Daughter Of The Fang
by Kaitaru Stark-Laufeyson
Summary: Kakashi Hatake's daughter, Inara Hatake, has been up to mischief which is getting her into trouble she never imagined as her life spirals out of her hands. As adventures can often go astray...But. She's the Daughter Of The Fang.  *Slight Humour Included*
1. The Chasing Of Family Ties

**Daughter of the Fang.**

Kakashi Hatake had long since been a family of one when his father, the White Fang had died.

Life had dramatically changed since then. He had changed as a person and decided to follow the rules to the letter. Because of that, he had lost a Team mate.  
A friend that meant more to him than he could imagine. Obito Uchiha. It was he who had changed Kakashi once again and set him on the right track before he died.

The other member of his team had grown close to him since name was Rin. They'd been very close, and as they grew older they married and had a child.

Then the third great shinobi war erupted suddenly, and in that war, Rin was lost.

She joined Obito among the heavens, and everyday Kakashi knelt by the memorial stone and prayed for them.

It had now been ten years since Rin had died, and he faced bigger worries which he had to take care of. Worries which were known as:

The Daughter Of The Fang.

* * *

**Chapter One.**

**The Chasing Ties of Family.**

"INARA. GET BACK HERE." Iruka yelled as he chased after a small ten year old girl with long black hair which had silver streaks running through it.

This…was Inara…After having escaped her class via leaning too far and falling out the window onto soft grass. Like with most aspects in her life, she'd hit the ground and started running.

Thus leaving her teacher Iruka Sensei to have to chase her down.

She turned down a small alleyway and squeezed through a small hole in a nearby fence. She looked back through in time to see Iruka run past, and she sighed in relief, resting her back against the fence as she sat on the floor.

She leant forwards to tie her black sandals up a little more tightly, and ripped her trousers at the ankles slightly to allow her more freedom when running. She looked through the hole to check if anyone was there, before squeezing back through and running once more, to her house on the edge of Konoha where she lived.

She raced up the yard and collapsed on the stone steps which lead up to the front of the house. Inara lay there, gasping for breath as she laid her head on her arms which were currently folded on her knees.

Inara then looked up and gasped as something dropped from her overhanging roof. As the thing stood up she groaned and face palmed.

Iruka stood in front of her with his arms folded over his chest.

"I had a feeling you'd go home from the way you were headed. So all I had to do was wait. Seems I was right." Iruka said.

He smiled to himself suddenly as he saw the same sort of spirit in Inara, as he did in Naruto. An old favourite student of his who also seemed to always be in trouble.

Iruka clamped down on those thoughts with a sigh and turned his attention back to Inara, who sat glaring at him from the steps.

"So Inara. Would you rather do lines in a classroom after school without anyone else knowing? Or would you rather I told your father and see what HE thinks of you skipping class?" Iruka said sternly, giving her the choice. Inara widened her eyes at the mention of her father.

"No!...I'll do lines." She sighed, pretending that none of it really mattered and that she didn't care anyway.

* * *

***Later that Day***

Inara walked home and for the second time that day, she walked up the steps to her house. Her hand ached from writing one hundred lines of 'I must not skip class'.

She was about to open the door, but then reminded herself that the other resident of the house might be home. So instead she jumped up lightly onto the roof of the two story house and crept along the slanting tiles until she reached the far side of the house.

Then dropping onto a narrow ledge of the second story, she hoisted the window up and slid in through the gap.

She closed the window quietly and silently crept along through her father's bedroom and across the landing into her own midnight blue room, placing her bag on her bed and discarding her coat alongside it.

Inara sighed in relief and suddenly her bedroom light came on.

"How come you're home so late?"

Inara closed her eyes and grimaced to hold back a curse as she heard a voice from behind her.

She straightened up from her crouched position and slowly turned. A tall man dressed in leaf ninja gear with spiky grey hair stood in her doorway, with his leaf head band casually hanging down over one eye.

But unfortunately he wasn't being very 'casual' at the fact that she was late home as he narrowed his one visible eye at her.

"Well, see…I wanted some help after school and I hung back with Iruka Sensei. Everything's fine now though, I get it." Inara said roughly.

"You're lying." He said, folding his arms. She bit her lip and shrugged. The man sighed nodded his head in the direction of the stairs.

"Hm. Well maybe I'll find out over dinner, so you better make up your mind as to what you were doing eh?" He said, smiling to himself as he followed Inara downstairs and into the kitchen where her dinner was waiting. Inara sat down to the table and looked at him as he sat opposite her, propping his elbows on the table and resting his mouth against his interlocked hands.

"Aren't you eating father?" She asked him worriedly. He shook his head.

"I've already eaten a late lunch today, and I don't think I'll be wanting more anytime soon. Now eat up." He said, gesturing to her plate of healthy vegetables and cooked meat.

"Yay…Vitamins…" Inara said with an ironic smile, but picking up her cutlery and tucking in with a will anyway. She ate amidst silence until he finally broke the silence by asking her a question.

"So, how was detention with Iruka Sensei?" He asked casually, moving his chin onto his hands instead. Inara froze, her gaze locked down on her plate, but not really seeing anything.

"Aha…I see." He said, leaning back in his chair. Inara swallowed her mouthful and met his gaze which was fixated on her.

"Father…I swear I didn't do anything THAT bad." Inara exclaimed, thinking back over her leaning and falling out of the low window. "I mean, well…I don't suppose." She finished lamely, biting her lip.

"So skipping class and running home isn't breaking the rules at all is it?" He replied sarcastically, raising his eyebrow. Inara groaned in defeat and finished eating her dinner in silence. He sighed rubbed his neck.

"Are you done with that?" He asked quietly, gesturing to the plate. She nodded and he got up from the table to gather the plate and cutlery before placing them in the sink to be washed. He glanced back to where she was still sitting at the table. He sighed as he put washing up liquid in the washing bowl and added hot water.

"Go on, it's half eight. Go to bed." He said gesturing to the stairs. Inara nodded and stood up, heading over to the stairs.

Suddenly she paused and turned, running back over to him and hugging him. He caught her and hugged her back tightly.

"Love you." She said, her words muffled by his chest.

"Love you to 'Ara." He said with a smile, kissing the top of her head. He waited for a minute before she unwrapped herself from him and raced up the stairs to get ready for bed.

Kakashi just stood there and smiled to himself as he dried his newly washed plate, putting it in the cupboard and turning off the lights.

* * *

_**HOW CUUUTTTEE? =D**_

_**Anyway. Yeah, Inara is my own character, formed out of my own crazzyy mind. **_

_**So THEREFORE (!) I do not own Naruto in any way shape or form. But I own 'Ara. So there. =P**_

_**ADVERTISEMENT ALERT (**__**Don't worry, it's not the go compare twat**__**):**_

_**If you like this or any other of my writings, then I suggest you check out 'Mess With Fire, You're Gonna Get Burned'. Co-written with the AMAZING Lalaranya. The link is below for any who wish to give it a go:**_

_**http(colon)/www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/s/6621099/1/Mess_with_Fire_Youre_Gonna_Get_Burned**_

_**But more than anything I want you all to REVIEW! **_

_**KSVH. **_

_**XxxXxxX**_


	2. Grade Report & Kitchen Wars

_**Chapter 2! IT'S ARRIVED YOU AMAZING LIL' LLAMA DUCKS. And thank you SO much to all those who have reviewed so far. **_

_**('Specially 'Nya.) ;D**_

_***Try saying it as if you got a mouthful. IT MAKES SENSE! XD**_

_**Anyway, 'shut up and get on with the story!' Right? **_

_**Well, without any further ado, I present to you Chapter 2!(OMG THAT RHYMED!) =D **_

* * *

**Chapter 2.**

**Grade Report and Kitchen Wars. **

Inara woke up from her dream world of weird and wonderful things to stare at her white pastel ceiling. Blinking rapidly to clear the haziness, she sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes tiredly.

"Finally. She's alive." Kakashi said from where he leant against her open doorway.

She jumped and abruptly fell out of bed, her black and silver streaked hair flying out wildly as it splayed over the wooden floor. Kakashi rolled his eyes as she stood up quickly.

"Yup! Alive and kicking'! Kicking' BUTT that is…" Inara said groggily.

"Uh…huh…Do you know what day it is?" He asked, looking at her in amusement.

"Day? Day…Day…Day…D-OH MY GOD. DAY." Inara muttered, her voice rising to a yell. Kakashi rolled his eyes again and clapped slowly. Inara turned and glared at him.

"Don't give me the spastic clap. You cardboard stuffed unspotted leopard." She said to him.

Kakashi stared. Sometimes he couldn't really figure out the odd little mind of his ten year old daughter.

"Whatever. Come on. You got school, hurry up and get ready!" He said, gesturing to her clothes and bag.

"I know! Get out of my room dumbass!" Inara yelled at him, rushing past him to get to the stairs.

"I'm not IN your room dumbass!" Kakashi said with a laugh, mimicking her whiney yell as he followed her to the kitchen.

* * *

He found her shovelling down a bowl of Cheerios. He looked at the cereal box and studied the ingredients information on the back of the piece of cardboard.

"What's in this stuff? Whatever it is, it makes you nuts. I swear." He said, ruffling her hair. She shrugged, smoothing down her now **even more **messed up hair.

"*****Hmm. Weww U'm your dshautah." She said her words muffled through a mouthful of food.

"Gross…I'm sorry, did you say something?" He said, looking surprised.

Inara just rolled her eyes and flipped him off. Kakashi continued looking at the box, but reached down and cuffed her round the head. Inara yelped and glared at him.

"No swearing. Swearing's not allowed." He said sternly, placing the box back in the cereal cupboard.

"You swear." She retorted, resisting the urge to defy him and just flip him off again.

"I'm allowed, because my problems are bigger than yours. Now give me your bowl. I need to wash it up." Kakashi said picking up her bowl and spoon which she was now finished with and placing them in the sink.

Inara smirked and got up from the table as he added hot water.

"Well I know something else of yours which is bigger than mine." She said, her smirk growing slightly. Kakashi looked at her through his one eye as he washed the bowl.

"Oh yeah? And what's that? Dare I ask…" He said.

"Your butt." Inara said with a laugh, her smirk growing into a fully-fledged grin.

Kakashi looked at her and laughed, grabbing some of the foam bubbles and flinging them at her. Inara squealed as the water hit her, soaking her pyjamas.

She held her hands up in weak defence and ran up the stairs to get ready for school.

* * *

***Five Minutes Later***

"You're going to be late!" Kakashi said as Inara rushed down the stairs, somehow managing to not trip, fall and die with epic proportions.

"At least I'm not ALWAYS late…Unlike SOME people." Inara said, implying towards her bad time keeper of a father with a small smile.

"That can't be me then." Kakashi replied after a thought.

"Oh. No, of course not. I forgot, you're too amazing in your own eyes aren't you." Inara said, rolling her eyes skyward. Or rather, ceiling-ward. Kakashi chuckled and rubbed his neck.

"Get gone with you. I'm having a home day today so I'll be home. And no skipping classes at ALL today. It's report day. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah. Ok thanks BYYYYYYYYE!" Inara said, hurtling out the door and running ninja speed towards the ninja academy.

She raced down bustling streets of Konoha until she arrived at the gates of the academy. She tried to open the gates, but they were locked."Damn it." She cursed, knowing full well that she wasn't allowed to swear, and revelling in her rebel-ness. The gates were locked, meaning one thing.

Class had already started.

"Fine. Fine then. Be like that. I'll break TWO rules today and argue the point of them later." Inara reasoned to herself out loud. She shouldered her bag so that it lay across the length of her back, and ran up to the surrounding wall of the academy.

She jumped and hoisted herself up before carefully letting herself down the other side. Then she pegged it across to the walls and ran to find the outside of her classroom. She looked in the windows until she found it, and quietly opened a back window to the class.

She let herself in and quietly slipped into her seat.

"Ah. Inara, so nice of you to join us. Seeing as you're late. How did you get in? And mind you tell the truth. It's report day." Iruka's voice called to her from the front of the class.

She put her bag beneath the desk and looked at him full in the eye. Well, if it was the truth he wanted, it was the truth he was going to get.

"Well, I had to jump the wall and run around the back of all the classes. I found our class, opened the window, came in and sat down. I swear I told you the truth Sensei, and nothing but the truth." Inara said, causing her classmates to laugh. Konohamaru looked at her from across the class and smiled.

They were good friends and often got into mischief. Konohamaru set about thinking about how to pull some tricks with her later on. Meanwhile Iruka was still focused on Inara.

"So…That doesn't explain why you're late." He said with a frown.

"Blame Father! I get it from him. You know that as well as I do Sensei." Inara laughed, leaning back in her chair and getting out a pen. Iruka smiled, the ice broken. He had to admit, she had him there.

"True, I suppose that IS true…Ok. Everyone, pens out. We're going to be learning about chakra flow today. So…" Iruka finally began his lesson, and Inara breathed out a sigh of relief at her good fortune.

Now she just had to sit there, listen, learn and take it all in before going home at the end of the day.

* * *

***That Afternoon* **

Inara came home later that afternoon and left Kakashi her grades report on the living room table. She was scowling deeply. Her father looked at her and frowned in consternation.

"Inara, what's wrong?" He asked her. She looked up, her face clearing for a second before going back to her original scowl.

"I got a note in my academy locker today saying 'See you this evening, love from you know who'. But what I want to know is, why the hell is Lord Voldemort sending me notes!" Inara said.

Kakashi snorted with laughter about her assumption at his hastily scrawled note which he dropped into her locker at lunch.

"That was me. I had to pop in today to see about something with Iruka." He explained.

"Oh, ok." Inara said with a smile.

As she was about to turn to go upstairs, Kakashi called her back and patted the empty space next to him on the cream sofa. Inara obediently came and sat down next to him, her legs pulled up under her comfortably.

"Inara, in about a week's time, my team and I are going to be going on a few missions. Missions that might take me away from home for a few days. If I do have to go away at any stage, I've arranged for you to stay with Iruka until I return. Ok?" He said. Inara looked up at him, startled.

"What? Father! No!" She exclaimed. Kakashi smiled to himself. _She's probably freaking out at the thought of having to stay with Iruka for whenever I'm away. _He thought.

"Father please, oh PLEASE take me with you!" Inara begged, her hands clasped together tightly. Kakashi blinked once. That was NOT what he had been expecting.

"Inara, I couldn't even consider taking you with us on missions. You're almost a Genin, two days away from the exams, and if I were to take you, it'd put me in danger of having to look out for you, and you'd be putting yourself in danger." He explained calmly.

Inara's eyes sparkled with the fire of determination, but she knew better than to argue.

Well, with him at least.

Instead she sighed in defeat and nodded before announcing that she was going to go and do her academy homework.

Kakashi let her go, and watched as she raced to her room.

* * *

_**Oki doke then. I HAVE got quite a good plot starting to form hang on with me, Oki guys? ;D So yeah. Please REVIEW. I can't stress enough how much I want your reviews. Because it lets me know if y'all want more.;D So, just to drum it in…**_

_**REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. **_

_**REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. **__**REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. **_

_**REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. **__**REVIEW. **_

_**REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. .REVIEW!**_

_**^Making you dizzy yet? Me too. =/**_

_**So yeah.=D Hope you enjoyed! =D**_

_**=^_^= Naruto Face**_

_**^_\\ Kakashi Face**_

_**-/.\- Itachi Face.**_

_**('cuz they're that awesome) **_

_**KSVH. (Kathryn Seras Viktoria Hatake)**_

_**XxxXxxX**_


	3. Family Training Effort

**Chapter Three.**

**A Family Training Effort . **

When Inara came home early from the academy the next day, Kakashi studied her quietly.

After their talk yesterday it occurred to him that there were other, larger secrets that he was keeping from her. But he would have to reveal those to her another time. He still wasn't sure if he could trust her yet, for instance, she'd dyed his hair ginger last week and it had taken him days to get it out.

Still, she had her Genin exams tomorrow, and she needed to be prepared. Yet he could see no signs of her planning anything from his experienced Jounin point of view.

She had a half day today, as it was the day before their Genin exams. They were expected to be revising and practicing any of the basic jutsu's which could be asked to be performed for the exam.

Kakashi was sat cross legged on his bedroom floor, reading Icha Icha Paradise (A book which Inara had sworn she would NEVER read) in the afternoon sunlight which filtered in through his only bedroom window. So he was slightly surprised when there was a quiet knock on his door.

"Come in." He called, looking up from his book for a moment. Inara slowly put her head around the door. Kakashi smirked at her hesitation.

"Yeeeeeeeeees? What is it?" He asked with a laugh, easing her tension slightly as she edged a little further into the room.

"I was wondering…Can I have a little help with practicing for tomorrow please? I'm not sure if I'm doing any of it right and-"

"Yeah sure, I'll grab some stuff and we'll go to a training area. There's a few jutsu's I've been meaning to teach you while I'm thinking about it." Kakashi agreed, putting a bookmark on his page and placing it on his desk. Inara grinned at the thought of training with her father and raced down the stairs. Kakashi smiled and they headed out towards the training ground which he had passed his team.

Team 7.

* * *

They arrived and Inara set a small bag down beside a stump. First, Kakashi made her go through the chakra network in the body, of which she was quite good on, only missing a few points which Kakashi was able to remind her of. Then it came to jutsu's.

"Ok. Try…a clone jutsu." Kakashi suggested. Inara put her hands together in a hand sign and concentrated. There was a slight 'poof' and a perfect clone stood beside her. He nodded and she let go of the clone.

"I know that when you release a clone, or if it gets killed, then you know the information that it has gained." Inara explained to him knowledgably. Kakashi smirked in approval.

"Ok, try a transformation jutsu." He said.

"Uhm, what should I transform into?" Inara asked.

"Me." He suggested. Inara rolled her eyes, muttering something about him being vain and always looking at himself in the mirror. But she transformed and there in front of Kakashi was a perfect replica of himself.

"Hm. Handsome, if I do say so myself." He laughed. Inara stood there again, and she rolled her eyes.

"Well, you seem to be ok and well prepared…Now, it seems I better teach you one of my own jutsu's." Kakashi said finally. Inara looked up at him curiously, her eyes filled with excitement.

* * *

"It's called the Chidori. I have no idea if you would have the power or ability to master it yet, but I want you to try." Kakashi warned her. Inara nodded, showing that she understood. He took a couple of steps back for safety and motioned for Inara to stay back.

"I'll demonstrate before you try it." He said, readjusting his headband slightly and pulling his gloves tighter.

"Ushi, Ne, U, Ne, Saru, Ne." He chanted slowly. Then he held his wrist palm facing upwards. Slowly he began to draw lightning chakra into the palm of his hand.

Suddenly lightening chakra was crackling in his hand, fizzing and cracking loudly as the lightening seemed to dance and leap. Kakashi then walked over to a nearby boulder and swung the Chidori into it, completely obliterating the boulder as the lightening was smashed into it.

Inara stared at where the boulder had stood not moments before, staring at the pieces of rubble. Staring…and smiled at her bewilderment.

"Your turn." He said, coming back to stand over with her. She frowned in concentration as she tried to remember then hand signs without using any chakra so as to practice.

"Ushi…Ne…U…Ne…"She trailed off.

"Saru." Kakashi supplied, moving her hands into the correct position.

"Saru…Ne." Inara completed it.

"Ok, this time use your chaka and do it a little faster. Don't worry if you can't do it, it might mean that you're not a lightning user. But give it a go." He prompted. Inara nodded and focused, the concentration burning in her eyes.

"Ushi, Ne, U, Ne, Saru, Ne." She said, pulling all the chakra into her hand and holding her wrist for support. She closed her eyes to focus as intently as she could. Nothing happened. At all. She sighed and released her focused chakra.

"I can't do it. I don't think I'm that kind of type." She said in disappointment, but her disappointment didn't last long and she smiled.

"I'll find something else, and I'll surpass you one day. I'll surprise you with something. Something you won't expect." She said in determination. Kakashi smiled and ruffled her hair, gathering their stuff.

"Mmm? If you say you will, I'll believe you. I think you've got what it takes to become a great ninja Inara, and tomorrow you'll be on your way to be able to start that dream." He said, casting a look at a nearby gravestone and closing his eyes in prayer before leaving with his daughter as the curtain of night descended over them.

* * *

_**Next chapter hopefully soon! (You MIGHT get an update on the weekend if you're lucky) ;D**_

_**KSVH. **_

_**XxxXxxX**_


	4. Invisible Chalk

_**Apologies for not updating in a while, I was also focusing on Konoha Hell High, and Mess With Fire You're Gonna Get Burned. (Read them, they're pretty epic too.) **_

_**^_\\ Kakashi approves.**_

_**I DON'T OWN NARUTO.**__** Duh. **_

* * *

**Chapter 4. **

**Invisible Chalk.**

Inara rubbed her eyes as she stood from where she'd fallen to the floor from her bed. She blinked and glanced at the clock which read 7:45. She stared at it disbelievingly as if it had got up and danced to the 'mission impossible theme tune'. Ninja Academy started at ten to eight.

Suddenly she sprang into action as she ran out of her room and across the landing.

"THANKS FOR GETTING ME UP THIS MORNING FATHER. MUCH APPRECIATED." She hollered sarcastically, her voice carrying throughout the house.

Diving into a small cupboard and withdrawing two towels, she hurled herself into the bathroom and slammed the door.

She hastily peeled off her pj's and plunged into the shower as she turned it on, lathering her black and silver streaked hair with shampoo and conditioner, making the bathroom smell of lavender.

Quickly rinsing it all out, she turned off the shower, shaking her head violently to get rid of any excess water in her hair. Then she drew back the curtain and stepped out of the shower, wrapping the soft towels around her squeaky clean hair and body as she bolted back to her room.

She sighed irritably as she dried herself and changed into her usual clothes of Black ninja shorts, black sandals and her red and black short sleeved yet long in length top.

Then she ran a comb through her smooth, soft and silky hair after having made sure it was properly dry.

She turned and picked up a small bag and stuffed in her usual black and purple shoulder satchel. As she turned she saw a glint out of the corner of her eye.

She smiled and picked it up, tying the Leaf Village Hitate around her upper arm.

Proud of the fact that she had passed her Genin Exam a week ago.

Then she remembered the time and raced out of the window.

* * *

Kakashi frowned from where he sat reading his book on the porch steps."Inara? What happened to using the door?" He yelled after her in frustration.

"DOORS ARE FOR PEOPLE WITH NO IMAGINATION." She screamed over her shoulder from halfway down the road, making him lean back a little from the force of it.

"Point taken." He murmured, shunshin'ing away to meet his team. For whom he was approximately an hour late for.

* * *

She dashed into the classroom ten minutes late, and thankfully Iruka Sensei hadn't entered yet.

"Konohamaru! Get here. I got a new trick for Iruka Sensei today." Inara yelled, waving at Konohamaru as she sat down in her usual seat at the back of the boy in question grinned and sauntered up to her as she pulled out the small black leather bag which she had stuffed into her satchel earlier that morning. Loosening the drawstring, she pulled out a piece of luminous green chalk. Konohamaru snorted.

"What's that gonna do?"

"Hey, shut up dimwit. I'll show you." Inara said with a slight growl at being questioned. Konohamaru stepped back slightly, he knew not to mess with girls, especially Inara. Taking the chalk, she dashed to the front of the class and rubbed it on the top of the front of the desk before rushing back and sitting down."That's in case Iruka Sensei comes in." She explained briefly. She proceeded rub a little bit onto the holding area of her pen. She smirked as Konohamaru gaped at the pen. There was nothing on it. At all…Or so he thought…

Then taking a piece of spare paper from her notebook, she gripped her pen tightly and started drawing for around two to three minutes. She smirked and took her hand away from the pen. They were coloured a luminous lime green.

"That's amazing!" Konohamaru laughed, his eyes bright with mischief.

"Hang on, let me just do something. Then all we have to do is wait for Iruka Sensei." She grinned. Then she dashed to the front of the class, and spun the little chair down until it was WAY too low for Iruka Sensei, and then she rubbed the chalk onto it, making sure it was DEFINITELY covered.

She gave it a thorough inspection to make sure, but there was no trace of the chalk at all. She grinned. Suddenly footsteps were heard from outside the corridor.

Thinking quickly, Inara put the chalk on the floor and straightened up slightly, as if in the motion of going to pick it up.

"Inara Hatake. What do you think you're doing?" Iruka asked from the doorway, his face full of puzzlement.

"I dropped something, I was just retrieving it Sir." She replied, picking up the chalk and wrapping her hand around it so that Iruka couldn't see, and putting it in her pocket.

"Oh…Ok. Go back to your seat please." He said, coming in and shutting the door behind him.

She did so and grinned at Konohamaru and another kid who sat next to her whose name was Hanabi Hyuuga, who was quite a quiet girl like her older sister, Hinata Hyuuga, but was always ready to laugh at a joke.

Iruka began putting some questions on the board. Then he sat down, but of course, the seat was too low. He swivelled around on it for two minutes until it was the right height and then propped his arms up on the desk.

"Ok then. Hanabi. Can you please write the answers for the first two questions on the board for us please?" Iruka called.

"Do them both wrong." Inara hissed at her quickly. Hanabi smiled and nodded to show that she had heard.

She made her way up there, and true to her word, she put the wrong answers, and even when prodded in the right direction, she was unable to put them right.

Iruka frowned and stood up to correct them himself, dismissing Hanabi to her seat.

And there on his trousers was a beautiful display of lime green. The class stared in astonishment, but soon they started to giggle quietly. They couldn't help it when they saw a lime green patch flashing at them whenever Iruka turned around to the board.

Iruka noticed this and he soon became slightly agitated.

"What is so funny about me today? Is there mud on my face, is my hair untidy or something?" He asked irritably

"No Iruka Sensei." The class replied, in helpless fits of laughter as he turned around again.

"I am not funny, and I do not FEEL very funny. But soon I shall be very funny. I shall soon say that I want one hundred lines from you! And you! And you if you do not stop this stupid behaviour!" He said angrily, pointing to people with a piece of white chalk.

The class soon started to calm down, but when he turned back to the board, they were clutching themselves in agony due to suppressed laughter.

Suddenly Iruka had the sense to look in the window as he turned to face them to scold them again for laughing. And then he caught sight of the luminous green which radiated from his person. He turned to view it fully and then tried to brush it off, and was extremely surprised when green chalk dust flew off.

"Huh! When did that get there!" He asked in bewilderment, brushing all of it off as the class's laughter died down a little, but not entirely. He looked around the class. He paid particular notice to Konohamaru and Inara who had huge great grins on their faces.

His suspicions were confirmed when he noticed them look at each other and wink.

"INARA. KONOHAMARU." He roared in anger. The two of them jumped in fear, looked at each other, nodded, and fled out of the open class window amongst the class's cheers.

"STAY HERE." Iruka said to the class as he gave chase.

"Damn it." He muttered as he ran after them, making sure he kept them in his sights.

* * *

"Run Konohamaru!" Inara panted.

"This way!" He replied, running up the steps to the Hokage building. Inara followed with little hesitation.

"GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!" Iruka's voice sounded from behind them.

The turned slightly as they continued running.

"Shit!" Inara cursed, making Konohamaru gasp.

"Inara! You swore!" He said uncertainly as he ran."I know I did damn it! IRUKA SENSEI IS GAINING ON US. RUN!" She yelled at him.

This caused them to look back and to see that Iruka was indeed gaining on them, having more stamina than them obviously.

Taking her advice, he ran. Inara right in front of him.

* * *

Kakashi stopped suddenly as he heard two voices raised. Running footsteps could be heard running towards them from further on down the corridor in the Hokage building.

"Huh?" He asked confusion as two familiar figures ran past him. Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto, his team who were stood in front of him, also stopped and turned to look. Before the two figures escaped, Kakashi cleared his throat loudly, and one of them stopped dead in their tracks.

"Uhh…Oops?" Inara muttered, trying to resist the urge to run away as quickly as she possibly could.

Konohamaru came running back and he also stopped.

"Boss! What are YOU doing here?" He asked, directing his question at Naruto.

"Huh? Oh, we're on our way back from a mission." Naruto said proudly, causing his team mates to roll their eyes.

"Was it a dangerous mission?"

"Kind of…but if you ever get this mission…protest immediately." Naruto informed him in all seriousness.

Sakura turned to Kakashi suddenly, but the words she had been about to say died on her lips. He was staring straight at Inara who was looking everywhere BUT at him.

Iruka suddenly came running around the corner and grabbed the first one of the two which he came to. Which happened to be Konohamaru.

"HEY! GET OFF!" Konohamaru yelled as Iruka took him by the collar. Iruka shook him roughly and turned to Kakashi.

"If you want, I can leave her to you." He said, nodding in Inara's direction.

Kakashi nodded, his eyes never leaving his daughter, who refused to make eye contact with him as she stood there, frozen to the spot.

Iruka started to pull Konohamaru away from the scene and headed away to the Academy with Konohamaru in tow.

"Uhh…Kakashi Sensei? What's wrong?" Naruto asked as Kakashi curled a finger at Inara, beckoning her over.

"Go wait outside the mission room immediately." He told them.

Without a word the three of them moved off down the hall. Of course, all of three of them listened in.

* * *

Inara made her way over reluctantly to stand in front of him as he stood with his arms folded.

"Why aren't you in class?" He asked quietly. Inara shrugged in response.

"Look at me." He ordered. She raised her head sullenly.

"I want the truth, within five seconds." Kakashi growled, his visible eye flashing dangerously. Inara gulped.

"Ok! Ok! Well, we played this insanely funny trick on Iruka Sensei, but he managed to figure out that it was Konohamaru and I and we got into trouble so we ran." She rushed, intertwining her fingers nervously.

Kakashi stared at her with the same expression as she spoke, and when she finished her sighed. She ducked suddenly, but she wasn't quick enough. Kakashi's hand flashed out and caught her around the back of the head.

"Ow!" She yelped, massaging her head.

"Whilst I sort out my Team, you can wait outside the door and then we can go home, where you will go straight to your room. Understood?" He said firmly.

Inara nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

* * *

"Good." He said, turning and walking in the direction of Team 7, opening the mission door and leading them in.

Inara waited for a long time and when she got bored of waiting, she listened in.

"-If you insist. I will give you a C-ranked mission. It's to escort someone."

"REALLY! Who! Who!"

"I'll introduce him now. You may come in!"

"WHAT? They're KIDS!"

"WE ARE NINJA'S! DON'T INSULT US OR I'LL KILL YOU!" Naruto roared, seeming to be in some sort of a struggle.

"I am Tazuna, the expert bridge builder from the land of waves. You must protect me on my journey and until I have completed my half-finished bridge."

"Agreed," She heard her father say quickly "thank you Hokage-Sama." He finished warily, opening the door.

* * *

"Go and get ready. Meet at the gates in half an hour." Kakashi said to Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto who all nodded and ran off.

Then he turned to Inara.

"You, however, will go straight to Iruka's." He said, making as if to accompany her.

"I can go myself." Inara said shortly, ripping her wrist out of his light grasp and running off down the corridor.

Little did Kakashi know, that she had no intention of going to Iruka's.

'_An adventure? I __refuse __to let Father go without me on __this__ one!' _Inara thought as she raced after Sakura.

* * *

_**Next chapter is here too! Read on! =D**_

_**KSVH.**_

_**XxxXxxX**_


	5. A dangerous adventure

_**Please forgive me for not having updated this weekend, but I have an excuse…a very good excuse…;D**_

_**T'was my birthday yesterday**__**! =D (9**__**th**__**) ^_^**_

_**Anyway…Yeah…Enjoy. ^_\\**_

* * *

**Chapter 5.**

**A Dangerous Adventure.**

"HEY! WAIT UP!" Inara yelled as she ran after Sakura.

Sakura stopped, her long pink hair flowing in the wind. She blinked in surprise and waved slightly as Inara drew nearer and stopped breathlessly in front of her.

"Oh hey…um…what's wrong?" Sakura asked in curiosity.

"I heard Team 7 were going on their first proper mission!" Inara said after she had regained her breath.

Sakura puffed up proudly inside, the only sign of it in her eyes as they glimmered with happiness.

"Yeah, that's right we are! what about it?" She questioned.

"Where are you going? Anywhere exciting?" Inara asked, pretending to be a small girl who just wanted to hear great tales about legendary monsters.

"Huh? We're escorting Tazuna, an EXPERT bridge builder to the Land of Waves so he can build his bridge." Sakura said proudly.

"Wooow! That must be really high rank if he's an EXPERT." Inara laid it on thick, making her eyes really big.

"Actually…It's only a C rank mission…But we can handle it. We're pretty much experts too." Sakura said intelligently.

"That's awesome! Well, I should be getting back now." Inara said, starting to back away quickly.

"Ok, see you around." Sakura waved as she started to turn away too.

"Bye!" Inara called, starting to hurry away. Sakura turned back suddenly.

"WAIT! What's your name?" She shouted before Inara could get away.

"Inara! Good luck!" Inara yelled, now taking off into a sprint.

"Inara what?" Sakura yelled back.

But Inara had already disappeared around the corner.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, and Inara had given Kotetsu and Izumo, the gate guards, the slip as she ran past them when they weren't looking and headed out onto the road.

The sun was high in the sky, and little beads of sweat started to form on Inara's brow as she took a delicate sip from her bottle which she had taken from her pack.

"Darn it. Why couldn't it be a little bit cloudier?" She murmured to herself, looking up at the sun as her eyes squinted.

She had been walking for a good two hours now, and she had assumed that Team 7 and Tazuna must be behind her by a little way, so she had no choice but to keep walking.

Inara was starting to get bored. Suddenly in a jolt of excitement, she decided to train along the way.

As she walked, she first ran through all of the hand signs.

Ne, Ushi, Tora, U, Tatsu, Mi, Uma, Saru, Hitsuji, Tori, Inu and I.

Then she decided to try out the jutsu that her father had tried to teach her the day before her Genin exam.

"Ushi, Ne, U, Ne, Saru, Ne." She said slowly, trying to force as much chakra as she could into her right hand. She started to feel something and her left hand clutched her right wrist to steady herself.

A tiny speck of blue light appeared and started to grow at an infuriatingly slow pace. Inara frowned at this, causing her to lose her concentration and it spluttered out.

This was always the result. She had only tried it once or twice before, but she had stopped since when she had tried to do it in her room, she almost succeeded in burning the whole house down.

* * *

She sighed and knelt by the roadside quickly, taking cover in the shade for a few moments and stared at a puddle absentmindedly.

Suddenly her gaze refocused on the puddle as a sheen passed over the puddle, making it look almost like ice, and a ripple started from the centre. She frowned at it and stood up, starting to make her way over to it.

But she froze on the spot as two ninja's rose up from the puddle, glaring at her in hatred. They all stopped for a second to take in each other's headbands.

Inara's leaf headba

* * *

nd…

The two brother ninjas…who wore rain ninja headbands.

They looked at each other and advanced on her faster than the eye could blink. One of them trapped her against the base of a tree and from beneath his mask, she could make out his raspy voice.

"Where are the others? Where is the bridge builder?"

Inara shook her head mutely in horror, and the other drew out a kunai and waved it threateningly in her face.

Inara found her voice box and did the only thing she could at that precise moment in time.

She screamed her lungs out.

* * *

_**Next chapter coming up…RIGH**__**T NOW. =D **_

_**KSVH. **_

_**XxxXxxX**_


	6. Dont make me laugh

**Chapter 6.  
Don't make me laugh...**

Naruto had been walking alongside Sasuke and Sakura as Kakashi Sensei explained the system of the Lands to them, and Tazuna was STILL drinking more of…well…whatever he was drinking.

That was, until they heard a scream from up ahead.

Kakashi had stopped stock still in shock, as had Tazuna and Sakura.

Naruto and Sasuke however, immediately sprang into action as the sprinted off down the path.

To come face to face with two rain ninja's…and even more surprisingly, a leaf village Genin.

The rain ninja's turned to face them, and Naruto suddenly felt frozen to the spot as one of them launched themselves at him. He stood there, and put a hand up in defence as the rain ninja bore down upon him.

Suddenly Sasuke was there, a kunai drawn and batting the extended claws away as they reached for Naruto. Naruto yelped in pain as the tip of a claw managed to snag the back of his hand.

But this left Sasuke to the mercy of the rain ninja, who was currently kicking the rain ninja to the floor with a very powerful kick.

Kakashi was then at his side and had pinned the rain ninja to the ground and held a kunai to his throat. Then he nodded to the other rain ninja who was watching and hissing in disapproval.

"What do you want?" Kakashi asked emotionlessly.

"The builder." The rain ninja hissed, grasping Inara tightly by the shoulder as she gritted her teeth.

Sakura immediately moved in front of Tazuna, her kunai drawn defensively in bravery, but her face saying the complete opposite side of the story.

"You can't have him. Try to take him, and I'll slit your friend's throat. Then you'll be next." Kakashi said dangerously, putting the kunai even closer to the rain ninja's throat.

The rain ninja who was holding Inara, hissed again even louder. This time it was more in anger than with disapproval.

"I propose a swap." Kakashi continued, gaining the rain ninja's attention once more.

The two brothers shared a glance and they nodded at each other to confirm this exchange.

* * *

The rain ninja was hauled to his feet limply, and Inara was put firmly on the ground where she spluttered slightly and tried to regain her breath.

Sakura frowned slightly, surely that was the girl she had bumped into earlier in the day. The one who had asked her about her mission. Sakura's eyes widened in realisation of what had happened.

Kakashi pushed the rain ninja slightly, and he immediately walked over to stand with his brother.

Whereas Inara was shoved forward hard and she went flying forwards with a yelp, but Kakashi immediately dived and caught her before she hit the floor.

Then he quickly stood her up properly and stood with his back to her as she positioned herself next to Sakura, who was the only one she felt safe next to.

Without warning, Kakashi leapt at the two ninja's and performed a few hand signs. Everyone's eyes widened as Kakashi formed a Chidori mid-air and powered it into one of their heart's.

Yanking his hand back out he back flipped and landed behind the remaining rain ninja, punching the rain ninja in the head. The ninja recovered quickly however, rolling with the blow, and immediately launched his own Taijutsu attack.

Kakashi parried and finally succeeded when he managed to grab the ninja in a headlock and twist his head around.

All the way around.

Inara and Sakura winced at the sound of cracking bones, as the lifeless ninja dropped dead to the floor with the heavy 'thunk' of flesh and metal.

* * *

Kakashi turned to Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura calmly, as if nothing had happened.

"Sasuke, the way you immediately put yourself out to save a comrade such as Naruto like that,"

"Hn."

"was very brave and your moves were skilled in the attack. Sakura, well done on instantly going into the protective stance to secure the safety of Tazuna, it was a wise move. Naruto, you also tried to help Sasuke in the attack, but you have to make sure you don't freeze up like that. Ok? You ended up hurting yourself and have now got a harmful poison running though your veins."

Sakura smiled at the praise and her Inner also cheered like an insane fan girl inside.

"Well, Naruto hurt his hand Sensei…Shouldn't we go back to the village?" Sakura asked suddenly.

Inara groaned inwardly. No! After all of that, it couldn't be over just like that…She didn't even get to the Land of Waves.

Naruto, however scowled slightly. He didn't like being dead last and he had wanted to prove he wasn't. But it had all gone wrong, and Sasuke had been the hero instead.

"I DON'T CARE. TO PROVE IT, I HEREBY MAKE AN OATH UPON THIS WOUND, THAT I WILL NEVER RUN AWAY AGAIN OR BACK DOWN FROM ANY MISSION, THREAT, OR ENEMY. AND I WILL NOT LOSE TO SASUKE!" Naruto proclaimed, drawing a kunai and stabbing himself in the hand. They all stared at him incredulously.

"Uh, Naruto? That was a great speech and a great way to get the poison out and everything…but lose any more blood, and you're going to die." Kakashi stated bluntly.

Naruto then started a major freak-out.

* * *

After a quick investigation of Tazuna, they decided to carry on with the journey.

"But what about Inara?" Sakura asked. Inara froze in the act of putting on her backpack and bit her teeth together in determination. Kakashi turned to her, his face and body language betraying nothing.

"Hm. I guess she should come too." Kakashi shrugged as he started walking, bringing up the rear of the group as they all started moving.

Naruto stared at Inara for a few minutes as they walked, and Inara started to feel fidgety and irritated after another few minutes of it.

"Why are you staring at me?" She finally asked, walking alongside him.

"You're small…shorty." Naruto said shortly, cocking his head to the side slightly.

"Don't make fun of me because I'm small, or I'll get my Father on you." Inara snapped irritably, folding her arms. Sasuke smirked at the weak comeback and Sakura smirked because…well…because Sasuke was smirking.

"Oh yeah? Who do you think you are?" Naruto asked, pointing at Inara and narrowing his eyes at her.

"Inara Hatake." She answered simply. Naruto did a double take and blinked furiously. Kakashi rolled his eyes.

"H-H-Huh? As…As in Kakashi Hatake?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Yeah, He's my Father." Inara nodded, glancing at said person nervously for a brief second.

"KAKASHI SENSEI IS YOUR FATHER!" Naruto exclaimed in astonishment.

"Yeah…..Why? And who are you?" Inara asked, a little bit shocked at his abrupt outburst.

"Huh? Oh, I'm Naruto Uzumaki. Your Kakashi's my Sensei. Obviously." Naruto explained holding out his hand as he introduced himself, which Inara shook warmly with a smile.

She had a feeling that she liked this Naruto. She could see a lot of herself in him, such as his boldness. He ruffled his blond spiky-ish hair and laughed.

"Obviously." She murmured in agreement.

"Wow…Haha, rather you than me. If it was me, one look from the Sharingan and I'd be grounded for a week!" He continued.

"Now THAT could be a good idea." Kakashi said suddenly, joining in the conversation. Naruto and Inara jumped and turned to face him.

"No it's not." Inara replied immediately, her eyes wide.

"Sensei! That's mean, you can't do that!" Naruto defended her, trying not to smile.

"Why not?" Kakashi asked in a similar predicament.

"….Because you can't." Inara said shortly, trying to avert the conversation to a dead end.

"Somehow, I'm not completely convinced with that." Kakashi replied slowly.

"Damn." Inara muttered.

"No swearing." Kakashi reprimanded her, raising his hand in warning and making her duck slightly instinctively.

"I didn't!" She replied in defence, straightening up.

"Don't lie either." He came back at her.

Inara frowned and folded her arms in defeat. There was no way she could win this one.

"You lose. Again." Kakashi said smiling as his mask crinkled.

"I'm angry at you, don't you dare make me laugh…." Inara said, struggling to keep an identical smile off of her face. Then he leaned forward to whisper in her ear.

"I could say the same thing to you. Except, without the 'don't make me laugh'." He said, raising one eyebrow at her.

Inara gulped and turned back to face the road ahead of them.

It suddenly seemed to her like a very dangerous road.

* * *

_**Yeah, Sorry it's been a while…=/ **_

_**Love you guys,**_

_**PLEASE…PLLEEAASSEE REVIEW! D= **_

_**=D**_

_**KSVH.**_

_**XxxXxxX**_


	7. Truth, Love and Battles

**Chapter 7.**

"Hey, didn't I talk to you earlier?" Sakura asked as she walked alongside Inara. Inara looked up in the surprise that the older girl was talking to her.

"Huh? Oh…Oh yeah. Haha, sorry about that." Inara grinned apologetically.

"You're not sorry. You intended for this to happen. Perhaps not by getting caught by Iwa ninja, but the outcome was that you still came with us. Therefore, you're not sorry." Sasuke said tonelessly.

"…You are such a negative person." Inara said after a few moments of silence.

Tazuna guffawed into his hand, trying to smother his laughter.

"And you are an idiot." Sasuke said in evident disgust as he looked at Inara, who glared back at him in annoyance.

"Shut up Teme. What matters is that she's here. Nothing can be done about it, so get over it." Naruto said suddenly, tired of hearing Sasuke's disapproving voice.

"Ok, that's enough." Kakashi's voice came from behind them all.

They walked on, but Sasuke was STILL giving Inara evil glares.

Which she returned.

Naturally.

* * *

Inara was bored.

After four hours of walking down a never ending road.

"You know, we could at least make this fun." She commented.

"This is a mission. Missions aren't supposed to be fun." Sasuke said emotionlessly.

"I was just saying…" Inara said, raising her hands in mock defence.

"Sasuke, she's younger than us and she's a kid, like us. Learn to have fun…Teme." Naruto backed Inara up. She gave him a grateful look.

Sasuke's eye twitched in annoyance. Which was the expression mirrored on Sakura's face.

"LEAVE SASUKE ALON-"

"SHUT UP!" Inara yelled at Sakura. "GET OVER IT. SASUKE DOESN'T LIKE YOU. END OF."

"HOW DARE YOU-"

"SHUT. THE. HELL. UP."

"Inara." Kakashi warned her, the disapproving look back in his eyes. Inara's jaw locked and she forced herself to grind out an apology through gritted teeth.

"Sorry Sakura."

Sakura looked like a little pink fluffy kitten that'd had her fur ruffled up the wrong way by an offending hairdryer.

Apart from her now smug expression, that was.

Inara felt a sudden urge to charge at Sakura and drag her down to the ground, and grasping her around the neck so as to shake her like a rag doll.

Instead she shrugged and rolled her eyes indifferently.

* * *

Later on the same day, Kakashi had taken the lead again, and Tazuna was hanging back slightly, flanked by Naruto and Sasuke. Inara had now distanced herself slightly from Sakura, not even deigning to look at the offending pink thing.

But she still longed for something fun to do.

That was when her eyes alighted upon her father, walking up ahead of them.

With a mischievous grin, she looked at the ground she would have to cover.

Not too great a distance.

Perfect.

When there was a lull in the conversation, or rather, argument, from between Naruto and Sasuke behind her, she sprang forward and ran at Kakashi, leaping up and grabbing him, wrapping her whole body onto him.

He started in surprise and he found himself hurtling to the floor as Inara crowed mentally at being able to successfully tackle him. Kakashi suddenly rolled with it and came up so that he was pinning her to the floor.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked, raising an eyebrow inquisitively.

She didn't answer, instead quickly she slipped out from under his arms and ended up in a kneeling position on his back, taking out a kunai and holding it against his throat.

He sighed in disappointment.

Inara felt herself sliding as he stood up and she was ungraciously deposited on the ground.

Indignant at being walked away from, she appeared in front of him and threw and handful of kunai at him.

But he flickered slightly and disappeared.

In slight confusion, Inara relied on her senses and tried to focus on where he would come at her from.

Suddenly she felt a stabbing pain in her back as she was flipped backwards and slammed to the floor.

She coughed and spat out some dust.

"Ow." She groaned.

"Don't try it kiddo." Kakashi said, staring down at her.

Inara looked away sulkily and stood up, brushing herself off irritably. Kakashi walked off again to join Tazuna at the front of the group, whereas Inara hung back with the other three Genin.

"That was a bad idea Inara…You might not want to try that again" Sakura warned, trying to be nice to her for the first time since their little spat.

"There's no such thing as a bad idea. Only poorly executed awesome ones." Inara laughed, trying to cover up her hurt at being rejected.

Naruto snorted with laughter but wilted under Sakura's disapproving glare. He moved off to go and annoy Sasuke instead.

"That was your idea of fun?" Sakura continued.

"Well yeah, I mean, I want to get stronger." Inara said truthfully. It wasn't a lie, she DID want to get stronger. It was just…hard…around her father.

"So you take on a Jounin. Do you have a death wish?" Sakura asked

"…No. He wouldn't kill me." Inara laughed it off.

"How do you know?" Sakura inquired further, her curiosity aroused.

"I just do." Inara said evasively, suddenly realising that she was cornering herself in.

"But-"

"Just leave it would you! He wouldn't kill me because I'm…" Inara snapped, trailing off.

"Because you're what?"

"Because…I'm…Special…Yeah. I'm special."

"You're special." Sakura raised her eyebrow disbelievingly.

"Yes. That's right. Special." Inara nodded, pleased with herself.

"…O…k then." Sakura said slowly.

"C'mon you two! We'll never get there at this rate!" Kakashi called back to them.

"Hai!" They both answered, running to catch up with the main group.

"Do you know anything about this mission Inara?" Kakashi asked as they all walked on.

"It'll be a mission no longer, Kakashi Hatake, the ninja who has copied over a thousand Jutsu…Sharingan Kakashi…The Copy Ninja." A voice thundered from above them.

"Team, protect Tazuna!" Kakashi said, trying to act calm for his team's sake.

Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke all moved to protect Tazuna. Inara however, drew her kunai and held it in front of her body in an aggressive stance.

"Oh? What have we here? A small hero."

"It only takes a small hero to kick a big ego." Inara said.

"Zabuza Momochi is the name, Demon of the Mist." Zabuza said from where he was stood on a sword which had been embedded in a tree high up.

"Hm. I'll call you Misty. Like the name for a cat. Here…Kitty…Kitty." Inara spat, her voice dripping sarcasm. A thick mist started to flow all around them, and Inara bit her lip.

Threatening sarcasm was supposed to work.

Damn it.

"Inara. This is not the time. Stay back." Kakashi snapped.

"Can you please try and trust me for once?" Inara sighed, trying not to sound like a whining child.

"I trust you, but this is a bad situation we're in. So do as you're told. For once." Came the reply.

* * *

The mist was now so thick, that she was unable to see Kakashi anymore. It worried her. She felt alone, lost in the mist…and all around her phantoms were appearing.

Suddenly a phantom which was larger than the rest sprang up from behind her. And this one wielded a gigantic sword. Inara screamed and ducked to the floor as Zabuza swung at her.

There was a sharp clang of metal on metal.

Inara gasped as she felt a drop of something hit her hand, which was supporting her on the floor. She looked at it. A drop of crystalline red…

Looking up in horror, she saw her father standing above her protectively, the sword embedded into his glove, having cut through both the metal and material on the back of his gloved hand.

"A-A…I-I sw-swear…"

"Protect Tazuna." Was Kakashi's short response, never taking his eyes off of Zabuza.

Instead, Inara tightened her hold on her kunai and thrust it upwards into Zabuza's chest as hard as she could. 'Zabuza' suddenly exploded in a hail of water.

"Water clone." Kakashi said grimly. Looking down at Inara, he grabbed her by the arm and ran her over to stand with the others.

"Make sure she stays there." He said to Sasuke.

The chicken-butt haired boy nodded and glared at Inara.

"You know, you're screwing this up for all of us." Sasuke said when Kakashi had left to go and fight the Demon of the Mist. "You're a liability to all of us. You are only going to get hurt, or get one of us hurt."

Inara suddenly felt awful. She recalled a conversation which she had had with her father mere days ago, predicting this exact kind of incident…and what his reply had been.

_**Flashback.**_

_"Father please, oh PLEASE take me with you!" Inara begged, her hands clasped together tightly. _

_Kakashi blinked once at her. _

_"Inara, I couldn't even consider taking you with us on missions. You're almost a Genin, two days away from the exams, and if I were to take you, it'd put me in danger of having to look out for you, and you'd be putting yourself in danger." He explained calmly._

_**End of Flashback.**_

Annoyed with herself, she cursed her plans which she had so carefully laid out, cursed all the wasted training time.

"Why couldn't you have just gone home?" Sasuke continued.

"Shut up." Inara said quietly.

"Who do you think you are? Talking to me like that. You don't have any talent or skill, you're a fresh out Genin." Sasuke sneered.

Inara went rigid.

Suddenly she turned around and slapped Sasuke across the face a hard as she could, sending him stumbling.

"Don't you EVER talk down to me. As a matter of fact, don't talk down to ANYONE. Ok? Try and be decent to your team-mates. For one, be nicer to Naruto. Do you anything about him? Is he really that much more of a loser than you are? And Sakura, you treat her like dirt when in fact she would die for you. Man up and try to love her back, and protect the bonds you form. Ok? Grow a pair you negative bastard. At the same time, grow a heart." Inara said, grabbing him by the collar as she said this straight into his shell shocked face.

"Y-Y-You-"

"I'm a realist in some aspects. Welcome to the real world. Love is a big part of it, asshole." Inara said tersely.

Sasuke was dropped to the floor unceremoniously.

"Now, go and help your Sensei." She ordered him, pointing in the direction of where Kakashi was ferociously battling Zabuza.

"Why can't you?" Sasuke asked, his eyes filled with a million questions.

"Because I put him in a great deal more of danger than you do. Take Naruto with you, and get along with him, prick." Inara huffed, angry at the truth of it.

Sasuke stood up and grabbed Naruto by the shoulder, pulling him over and away from the bridge builder and the two girls.

"What did you do to Sasuke!" Sakura asked heatedly.

"Gave him an insight into life. Don't worry, with any luck it'll improve your future." Inara replied irritably.

Sakura gaped at her as Inara turned her attention to the bridge builder.

"How much farther do we have to go?" She asked him.

"N-Not far…Not far I shouldn't think." Tazuna responded after a few seconds of silence.

"Good." Inara nodded once.

There was a yell as Kakashi was suddenly dropped from where he had been held in a water prison, and Zabuza hissed as a kunai grazed his cheek which had been thrown by Naruto.

"Hm. Teamwork." Inara nodded approvingly, watching as Kakashi stumbled onto the bank, shaking the water droplets from his dripping wet hair.

Suddenly, before anything else could happen, two senbon flew through the air.

Inara gasped and threw a shurikan, grinning as it knocked the senbon out of their path and away from their target.

A dark figure then zoomed across towards her, and her eyes widened, as did Sakura's and Tazuna's.

But Inara threw herself forwards instead, and herself and the figure collided, making them both tumble to the ground awkwardly.

"Who the hell are you?" Inara asked breathlessly from where she managed to fall on top of the figure.

"None of your business. Just die." The figure replied with a male-ish voice. As Inara got a good look, she realised that the dude was masked.

"Masked dude, are you able to take no as an answer?" Inara said as she drew her kunai at held it against the masked dude's throat.

"Haku. Stop." Zabuza said.

"That's a hunter nin…" Sakura said slowly, recognising the markings on the mask from the distance between them.

"Who's working with the enemy." Sasuke said, darting forward and pushing Inara's wrist down quickly and firmly, driving the kunai into Haku's throat.

"Z-Z-Za-…-bu-…-za…unhhh…" Haku whispered, his hand falling on the ground.

Dead.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi yelled, he went to move forward, but Zabuza threw himself at Kakashi and they both toppled backwards into the water behind them.

* * *

Within seconds, they both rose to the surface of the water, and Kakashi unveiled his Sharingan eye from underneath his Hitate.

"A-A-Another Sharingan user…? Th-that's impossible!" Sasuke spluttered under his breath.

"Calm it Sasuke. It was a present from a long time ago…" Kakashi called over his shoulder, sensing his student's mood.

Sasuke nodded stiffly to show that he'd heard.

Then Kakashi and Zabuza faced each other from across the water.

"Ushi Saru U Ne I Tori Ushi Uma Tori Ne Tora Inu Tora Mi Ushi Hitsuji Mi I Hitsuji Ne Saru Tori Tatsu Tori Ushi Uma Ne Tora Mi Ne Saru U I Tatsu Hitsuji Ne Ushi Saru-" They chanted simultaneously, the hand seals a blur as they moved at ridiculous speeds.

"Tori Ne I Tori!" Kakashi chanted even faster than before, being three steps ahead than Zabuza, even though it was HIS jutsu.

"Suiton! Suiryuudan no jutsu!" They both yelled.

"Impossible!" Zabuza exclaimed, his eyes wide as two monstrous water dragons rose up from the surface of the water.

"As I am right in thinking that Naruto would say; Believe It." Kakashi said, his mask crinkling as he smiled.

The dragons crashed down upon each other, water spraying everywhere as the two ninja were thrown back, waves which reached half of the height of the trees rising up.

"HANG ON TO SOMETHING!" Sasuke yelled, grabbing Inara around the waist and taking Sakura by the hand, making them grab on to fairly sturdy looking low hanging branches, whilst Tazuna and Naruto did the same with Sasuke on other branches.

The water battered at them relentlessly, and Inara looked up as a loud foreboding crack sounded above her.

"Please. Please no. Please." She said, pleading with nothing in particular.

Well, she didn't talk to trees _that _often.

And to be fair, she didn't speak tree language.

The sound of the crash when the branch finally broke was lost to the ever flowing and crashing of the waves as they pounded against them relentlessly, and Inara was swept underwater with a gurgle of air bubbles.

The water rose to its peak height, nearly reaching three quarters of the trees majestic height.

Which was when the water began to recede, letting it flow back into the rives, and being soaked into the ground.

An eerie calm settled over the area in the aftermath of the battle.

* * *

_**Next chapter, being posted soon. ;D**_

_**Slight cliffy I'm afraid.**_

_**PLEASE tell me what you think of that chapter in a review, because I'm hoping that was ok.**_

_**And sorry about Haku guys, he was a fave character of mine, but I had to let him go. **_

_**Think about it this way, Sasuke is a bitch, and we all know it. ^_^**_

_**Say if you want Kaka-Sensei to have a go at him for it. I can make it happen….**_

_**But for that, I need reviews. ;)**_

_**Kaitaru Seras Viktoria Hatake.**_

_**XxxXxxX**_


	8. A Rhetorical Question

**Chapter 8.**

Kakashi blinked, clearing his hazy vision as a blurred image of Team 7 and Tazuna came into view from where he was sprawled out on the muddy ground.

"Hey, are you ok?"

"Kakashi Sensei!"

"Hn…He's alive."

"Hey! Old one! Get up!"

"I'm not old Inara…" Kakashi sighed.

"Uh, Kakashi…I'm Naruto." Naruto said, blinking in confusion.

"Sensei? I can understand how you can get confused between Naruto and a girl…but really…Naruto's blonde." Sasuke sniggered quietly.

"Thanks Teme." Naruto beamed.

"That's even worse Naruto. Do you not understand a double insult, Dobe?" Sasuke replied, rolling his eyes skyward.

"TEME!" Naruto roared, pointing an accusing finger at Sasuke.

"Shut up both of you, you're giving me a headache…wait…That was Naruto? Th-Then where's Inara?" Kakashi queried, suddenly on full alert as he sat up.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of cow print, and he noticed that it was Zabuza Momochi. His body seemed to be resting at the base of the tree, but due to the sword which was stuck through one arm and the heavy bruising in the tree above Zabuza's head, Kakashi knew better.

The Demon of the Mist was no more.

"I…haven't seen her…" Sakura said, biting her lip worriedly.

Kakashi scrambled upright, swaying slightly on his feet due to chakra exhaustion.

"Inara!…Inara!" He started calling, looking around the open area of the slight clearing.

Sakura and Naruto also took up the task, calling out her name.

"Inara?"

"Inara…"

"Inara!"

A faint reply made them stop to listen closely.

"I'm over here…" Came Inara's faint voice.

Immediately Kakashi was running, following to where the voice had come from. His legs lead him across the clearing and he found himself at the base of the next few trees.

"Inara? Inara, call out to me." He panicked desperately, looking around wildly.

"Up here…"

Kakashi looked up, and Inara was high up in the tree, her body sprawled out over two dangerously thin branches.

"Ok…Hold on…I'm going to get you down." Kakashi said, steeling himself for the extra use of chakra.

"Don't worry about it. Just catch me." Inara sighed as she shifted her body weight violently, causing the branches to splinter and break, letting her become airborne as she fell from the tree.

"INARA!" Kakashi yelled moving underneath and grunting as he barely managed to catch her.

He set her gently on her feet and knelt down so that he was looking directly into her face, and more importantly, her eyes.

"What on EARTH do you think you're doing?" He asked furiously, shaking her by the shoulders as Team 7 and Tazuna came running up to them.

"I was helping…" Inara said, her eyelids drooping.

"She's nearly out of it." Tazuna commented, taking in her almost paper-white skin.

"INARA. HATAKE." Kakashi roared.

Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke all did a double take.

"K-K-Kakashi Sensei…" Sakura breathed softly as the last piece of Inara's dark and mysterious puzzle clicked into place.

"I'm s-s-sorry…"Inara whispered, her body falling as she collapsed forwards into Kakashi's chest which was heaving with mixed suppressed anger and tears.

"I think we should get home before it gets dark. Here, I'll take the child-" Tazuna started to say.

"No. I'll carry her." Kakashi said, swallowing.

He proceeded to pick Inara up as though she weighed nothing, and turned to Tazuna.

"Lead on." He said.

Tazuna nodded and started walking, a weary Team 7, plus one, following in his wake.

* * *

Breakfast the next morning wasa rather...odd...experience.

All of the adults were dressed and ready for the day, Kakashi in his Jounin uniform as usual, Tazuna and his daughter (A/N: Forgotten her name, SO many episodes ago!) were dressed in their normal village clothes.

Inari, Tazuna's grandson, was in dungarees and a deep blue and white hat, Sasuke was wearing deep blue and white Pyjamas, Sakura in white and pink pyjamas…

And then there was Naruto.

In. Bright. Orange. Pyjamas.

A rather odd scene at the breakfast table as they all munched on their toast, spread with various jams, honey and chocolate spread.

"So...uhh...Kakashi Sensei..." Sakura started, making Kakashi look up slowly from his still full plate of toast.

"Hm?" He raised his eyebrow.

"Yesterday…That girl…Inara. You called her Inara Hatake." Sakura said, finishing off the last of her toast.

"Did I say that? Oh...Yes. I probably did." Kakashi said after a second or two.

There was a silence as the others listened in to the conversation.

"But…T-That would mean that…Since you are a Hatake too…She'd be your…Uhh…Your…" Sakura trailed off uncertainly, seemingly embarrassed at what she was getting at.

Kakashi sighed. "Yes. She is in fact my daughter." He revealed finally. They all looked at him in shock, aside from Inari and his mother.

"I always thought you were deprived of any…ahem…action..." Naruto said in confusion.

"Naruto!" Sakura hissed at the offending blonde.

"What? Technically, senile old men such as Kakashi Sensei shouldn't be able to have se-"

"NARUTO!" Sakura yelled at him.

"How do you even know about that…biological term…Naruto?" Kakashi muttered.

He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

"Actually, thinking about it, the Dobe is possibly right. It's probably why Sensei reads those perverted books. It's probably how he tries to get stiff." Sasuke said thoughtfully.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi gaped at the Uchiha brat, turning pink under his mask.

"So then who is her mother?" Naruto asked cluelessly, making Kakashi's body set into an almost stone-like posture.

"Naruto! You can't ask things like that!" Sasuke hissed at him, nudging the blonde in the ribs.

"What? It's just a question…" Naruto trailed off in his protest, looking over the table at his Sensei.

"It's fine. Her mother was an old team mate of mine by the name of Rin. Before you ask, she's dead. But Inara knows that…" Kakashi intervened.

"That's why she's here isn't she." Sasuke said quietly.

"I have no idea." Kakashi shrugged, looking at the Uchiha. "Moving on to today however, Team 7, you and I shall train your chakra control. Tazuna, we are to protect you until you have finished the bridge. Yes? Good." Kakashi said, standing up and stretching.

"But what about Inara, Kakashi Sensei?" Sakura asked.

"…Sakura…You wouldn't mind staying here until she wakes up would you? When she does, would you be able to fetch me please? I shall need to have a word with her." Kakashi said grimly.

"Hai." Sakura nodded once.

"Thank you. Now, come on boys. We've got some training to do." Kakashi smiled, his mask crinkling slightly as he picked up a slice of toast.

* * *

Inara woke up.

Her eyes were unfocused, and she felt like she had the world's worst hangover in the history of all drunken shinobi...

And yes that DID include Iruka Sensei like time when he barged into class with a rubber duck astride his head which had been unsuccessfully tied into his pony-tail, singing a song about 'little green elves' before falling asleep on his desk and snoring uproarously.

Inara was currently was curled up in a sleeping bag which was laid out over a polished wooden floor, with three other similar bedding arrangements beside her, splayed out across the surface of the floor.

"Ugh…" She groaned, forcing herself up into a sitting position.

Suddenly there was a flash of pink in the corner of her vision, making her blink in surprise at it darted out the door at the side of the small-ish room.

She shook her head tiredly and peeled off her red and black short sleeved top and black shorts, instead pulling out a black and deep purple long sleeved polo top from her rucksack which was lying alongside her, and a pair of black ninja trousers.

Whatever, she thought to herself.

It was the morning, and it was too strenuous to try and think any harder than 1+1 at this hour of the day.

After all, it WAS now three o'clock in the afternoon.

Very early.

Of course.

* * *

Minutes later, Inara heard footsteps echoing down a narrow hallway which came from the door. Her eyes widened. She immediately ducked underneath the covers and stressed to try and even out her breathing, playing the 'fast asleep' card.

"Get up."

She closed her eyes tightly, trying to focus on breathing.

"Inara Hatake, I know you're awake, now sit up and listen to me."

Inara scrunched her face up, her headache nearly forgotten as she took a deep breath and poked her head up from under the covers. Kakashi was seated on the floor beside her, glaring at her menacingly.

"Is now a good time to say 'Sorry'?" She squeaked nervously.

"Does everything I tell you mean nothing to you?" He retorted, ignoring her question.

She bit her lip to stop her from saying anything sarcastic.

"Do I just say it for my own benefit?" He continued.

Inara grimaced. He was working himself up into a temper…and there was no _way_ she could escape it this time…She shook her head at him.

"So why do I say 'You have to stay at home', or 'Don't do that.'…hmm?" He asked.

She remained silent.

"BECAUSE YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO LISTEN TO ME. BUT YOU NEVER DO. DO YOU?" He shouted at her.

She shook her head mutely.

"YOU'RE JUST…YOU'RE JUST…." He started, unable to finish the sentence.

"Here…I'll finish your sentence for you. I'm useless! USELESS. I CAN'T DO ANYTHING RIGHT, AND I'M NEVER GOING TO BE A NINJA. YOU'VE NEVER BELIEVED IT EITHER, HAVE YOU." Inara yelled, tears filling her eyes with a desperate fury.

This time, Kakashi was the one who was shocked into silence.

"NO. YOU HAVEN'T. SO YOU CAN STOP LYING TO ME, BECAUSE I DON'T WANT IT ANYMORE. YOU CAN LEAVE ME ALONE." She persisted, tears streaming down her face as she stood up, grateful of the soft ninja sandals beneath her feet.

"Inara-" Kakashi protested angrily.

"FOREVER." She screamed, running out of the room.

She stumbled through the house, managing to reach the front door. Her black and silver hair streaked out as she ran the length of the dock and across the soft grass and into the oncoming rain which had started hours ago due to the heat of the previous day.

"Inara!" Kakashi hollered, following her at a run.

Inara looked back, saw that he was gaining on her, and broke into a flat out sprint for the tree line, trying to mask her chakra as he had always taught her. It wasn't working, she could still hear him following her.

She didn't know where she was going, but she needed to get away. That was all that was on her mind. Her breathing was getting short, her heartbeat pounding in her ears a the same beat as her feet as they pounded the ground rhythmically.

"Crap! Crap! Crap!" She whimpered, listening to the sounds of following footsteps as they got closer and closer.

Soon she began to hear rushing water, and she looked back, terrible images of the flood which had occurred during the fight yesterday. When she looked back, she screamed and ran backwards speedily.

She realised where she had heard the water from.

She was on the edge of a cliff.

A cliff which had a huge great rushing river beneath it, which was being whipped up in the frenzied storm.

Inara brushed her soaked her behind her ear, wincing as fresh raindrops stung her face as the bitter wind drove them into her like knives

"Ca-Ca-Can th-this day…G-G-Get any wo-worse?" Inara hiccupped.

"It will if you don't come back with me this instant Inara Hatake." Kakashi's voice said from a little ways behind her. Squeaking in fear, she turned to face her father, who's face was lit up in fury.

"N-N-No…" Inara said, taking a small step backwards.

Kakashi moved forward one step.

"TAKE ANOTHER FUCKING STEP TOWARDS ME AND SO HELP ME I WILL JUMP." She yelled at him.

"INARA. WHAT HAVE I SAID ABOUT SWEARING?" Kakashi yelled.

"THAT DOESN'T MATTER." She hollered back at him, tucking her hair behind her ear again as it whipped back into her face, obscuring her view.

Kakashi took three steps forward and made to grab her suddenly.

"Dear life, when I said can my day get any worse...it was a rhetorical question not a challenge." Inara muttered.

With that, she turned and ran the last two steps before taking a huge great leap…

Into thin air.

She dropped, falling into the churning watery abyss below her.

"INARA!"

* * *

_**Reviews…Please?**_

_**And to the reviewer: -Me, who wrote ; update NOW.**_

_**Your wish is my command. *bows* **_

_**Heh heh heh. **_

_**And thanks to Maxridelover! =D**_

_**As to which dick move you mean…I'm not quite sure…care to specify for me? XD**_

_**Still, LOVE hearing ALL your reviews! **_

_**Please review, I really need some more so as to boost this story up…**_

_**Because it's about to get better. **_

_**I promise. ;D**_

_**Much love to y'all! **_

_**Kaitaru Seras Viktoria Hatake.**_

_**XxxXxxX**_


	9. Scars

_**Finally! AN UPDATE! =D **_

_**REVIEW…As soon as you've read it. ^_^**_

**Chapter 9.  
****Scars.**

She couldn't breathe.

The one thing she'd forgotten to do when she jumped…

Was to take a deep breath.

And now she was being tossed around under the waves, as helpless as a leaf in a summer storm.

She managed to get her arms and legs to move, kicking out against the relentless current. She kicked out with all the energy she could muster, and yet the coldness of the water froze her limbs, seeming to suck the energy out of her before she could take a hold of it.

Suddenly she felt something brush against her arm. Her mind started to imagine. A shark? A piranha maybe? Some other fish or harmful creature which could potentially kill her if she…didn't…get out…of the…water…

"I HATE WATER ANYWAY!" Inara screamed as a wave bobbed her to the surface for a few precious seconds.

She struggled wildly, trying to stay atop the surface as she the torrent of waves threw themselves at her in nature's non-stop show of evident strength.

She kicked out strongly, paddling for all she was worth until she hit something hard with her shoulder. She reached out for it blindly and found herself grabbing rock. After a few minutes of her legs scrabbling around, she managed to hit multiple hard surfaces which moved under her weight.

She grabbed it and hauled herself up, inch by inch.

Shingle, she realised, trying the word out on her tongue. The small stones beneath her suddenly gave way and she fumbled desperately for a hold. She managed to pull herself forward for a good two minutes before finally collapsing when she felt soft, wet grass beneath her.

"D-D-D-Damn It-t-t." She said, her teeth chattering as she curled into a ball.

"Has no one told you about how you shouldn't swear in company." A stern voice said from behind her.

She stood up with a gasp and turned around sharply to see a man with gray hair…and moonlight reflecting off of his glasses.

"Wh-Who the h-h-hell are y-y-you?" Inara asked steadily.

"I'm Kabuto. Kabuto Yakushi. Follow me, you look so cold. I've got a place not far from here where you can warm up and have something to eat and drink. Come on." The man introduced himself.

"I shouldn't really-"

"But if you stay here in all this rain and wind, you'll die. Come with me and I'll make sure you're ok and that you don't get ill." Kabuto said, holding out his hand to her.

Inara looked at it for a second. Her hand clapped into his and he helped her up in one great heave. He started to walk, expecting her to follow.

Turning her head, she looked up to the top of the cliff on the opposite side of the river.

There was an absence of something…or someone…

Her father was no longer atop of the cliff.

* * *

"Ninja Art - Summoning Jutsu!" He said quietly, even though he knew Inara would be far away by now.

But he had hope.

His Ninken stood before him majestically, their fur shimmering in the light given generously by the moon..

"Eight Ninja Hounds, at your serv-Kakashi? What's wrong?" Pakkun greeted him with a frown.

"Inara." Kakashi said bluntly.

"Uh oh. What about her?" Pakkun sighed.

"She's run away from me when...when we argued. I'll tell you later, but you need to find her, and _bring her back_." Kakashi said, his face creased in a mixture of worry and anger.

"Yes Sir. Lets go." Pakkun said, all of them becoming a mere blur in the night as Kakashi watched them all disappear with a worried exhale of his breath.

* * *

Kabuto pulled the blanket up over Inara and watched as she fell asleep beside the small fire he'd made, her chest gently rising and falling silently.

It had been too easy. She'd told him everything. Everything he needed to know. Or rather, enough to know that Sasuke would be easy to obtain once he'd brought back this child. A child which they could use as a bargaining chip for Sasuke perhaps. He smiled in childish delight at what his Lord would praise him with for such useful information.

His master would be pleased. He did not have the Uchiha brat yet, but he had something just as good. He had the Hatake brat.

Kabuto stood up and quietly unrolled a black body bag, gently shuffling Inara into it so as not to wake her up.

However, as a loud barking sounded from the bushes to his right, it seemed that that was the least of his worries. The thunder of many heavy paws pounding the earth put Kabuto in defence mode and he immediately slung the body bag over his shoulder, grunting at the slight weight of his burden.

He twisted around and grabbed the remaining water which he had offered to Inara earlier and slung it over the fire, hearing it hiss out as he turned to run.

Only to find his path blocked by eight dogs. And no ordinary dogs either. He recognised them as Ninja Hounds, ones that could be summoned to do their owner's bidding. Slowly drawing a kunai from the pouch on his left leg, he held it in front of him protectively and waited.

One of the dogs, who had a lot of bandages wrapped around his neck(Biscuit), had been pacing slightly, and hopping to and fro on his front paws. Evidently he decided that time was up as he launched himself at Kabuto, claws outstretched and fangs bared frighteningly. Another dog, this one with sunglasses (Akino), also leapt at Kabuto from the other side in a similar stance.

Kabuto slashed twice, dealing a deep gash down the side of Biscuit's belly, and another, lighter scratch to Akino's front left paw. Akino growled in pain and irritation, but it was drowned out by Biscuit's howl of pure agony as he collapsed to the floor. The dogs rushed around them both, nudging them onto a huge Bulldog's back.

"Get them back to Kakashi." A small one said, pushing Bull with his soft, wet, velvety nose. Bull nodded and quickly galloped off.

But by the time the other five turned back to deal with Kabuto, the sound ninja had disappeared. So had the bundle of Inara.

"After him." Pakkun said, sniffing the ground quickly before speeding off into the woods, the four remaining dogs following him, howling loudly as they went.

* * *

Inara didn't know how much time had passed. But she had fleeting memories…and she wasn't even sure they were memories. She could have sworn she'd heard Pakkun, and the ninja hounds as they howled.

She didn't want to see them. She just wanted to sleep. Obviously that particular wish had been answered.

She could definitely remember receiving a sharp blow to the head. After that, she could only draw a complete blank. She rolled over and groaned, only to be poked roughly in response. Feeling suddenly came back to her in a rush, and the first thing she felt was pain.

And a lot of it.

She hurt everywhere, she could practically feel the bruises all over her body, and from what she could tell due to the pain levels, most of them would be a rich purple or a black-y-blue.

The second thing she felt was a headache, but she knew as long as there was quiet around her, that was easily overcome.

"Get up." A voice said from somewhere above her.

Or not, as the case would seem.

"Get up now. You have an appointment, and your lord doesn't like to be kept waiting." The voice repeated, adding an extra poke in her bruised ribs for effect.

Inara muttered something inaudible and opened her eyes, looking around her groggily. Not that there was much to see in the dim light that surrounded her.

"Where am I? And who's this…Lord…guy that you speak of?" She yawned, trying to cover it with her hand but realising that she was not yet able to access her limbs well enough to move them. She glanced to her right, and then to her left, where she saw Kabuto standing beside the bed which she must have been put in, seeing as she couldn't remember putting herself in it, and he was looking mildly irritated.

"You are at Lord Orochimaru's current base. Now hurry, you have a meeting with him." He said, his patience waning slightly.

"Current…Base?" She questioned, flexing all of her muscles as she attempted to sit up with Kabuto's help.

"We…We move around a lot." He replied evasively, pushing his glasses up quickly as he draped a robe around her, even though she was in the clothes she remembered being in before, when she had ended up on the shingle from where she'd-.

Oh. That was right. She'd jumped over a cliff to get away from her father.

"If you'd please hurry. Follow me." Kabuto said, turning around and walking out of the door. Inara, not wanting to be left alone, followed him quickly out into the corridor, wincing at the sudden cold which stung her cheeks. "This way. And please, _try _to keep up." Kabuto said, making Inara trip up at the sudden coldness to his tone.

"What time is it? And how long have I been asleep?" She demanded as they walked. Kabuto sighed irritably.

"You have been asleep for two days straight, and it is now approximately half past four in the morning." He answered, pushing his glasses up his nose again. When Inara tried to make conversation once more, he glared at her so intensely, that she decided not to try again. He scared her a little.

Every corridor looked the same, but there was an oddness to it. In each corridor that they turned into, Inara could feel a noticeable change in the temperature. It was getting warmer. Which must have meant that they were going deeper into the heart of the…base, Kabuto had called it. Inara wondered silently as to why they moved bases a lot, and why they needed bases.

Suddenly Kabuto stopped at a large door, and with a heave, he shoved it inwards, creating a loud scraping sound as it moved along the floor.

"Lord Orochimaru. Sorry to keep you waiting." Kabuto apologised in a humble voice as he bowed slightly, forcing Inara to do the same with a bit of difficulty as she resisted a little.

"Kabuto…I sssee you have brought sssome company…Bring her here into the light ssso that I may sssee her properly." A hissing, snake-like voice said from the other side of the room.

Inara found herself sweating, even though she wasn't that hot. Was she nervous? No, she had no reason to be. Only that she was…slightly scared of snakes. A little. Not much at all really…Ok. Quite a bit.

When Kabuto roughly pushed her forwards, she stumbled, making Kabuto reach for her elbow and steady her. "Don't be stupid." He hissed at her viciously, guiding her towards the darkness on the other side of the room. Inara looked more closely, and in the shadows, she could make out some sort of throne, and a man sitting it with long black hair, and odd yellow eyes that eerily reminded her of a snake, making her shudder involuntarily.

"Ssso…Your name, dear one?" The man asked her. Inara scowled at the use of 'dear one', making her want to hit him for thinking of her as such a child, and this made her feel a bit bolder.

"I'd rather know yours first old man." She retorted, keeping her hands folded across her chest defiantly. Before Kabuto could do anything, the man stood up and made his way towards her, automatically making her take as many steps back as she could before bumping into Kabuto who held her there tightly as her fear increased.

"Kukukukukuku…I sssee we have a feisty one. My name isss Orochimaru, little one. Now then, what is yours? You are not by chance, an Uchiha?" He asked, hope somehow edging into his voice.

"My name is Inara…Orochimaru…Inara Hatake." Inara said warily as the man drew ever closer. "And I am not a little…uhh…li…uhm…hmm." She trailed off in her protest as he finally stood before her in the light. He was pale skinned, an extremely unhealthy colour, with yellow snake-like eyes which glinted in the lights reflection, and purple marks ran from the inside corner of his eye down half of the length of his nose.

But that hadn't made her stop.

It was the fact that as she had been talking, she had seen a mass of very large snakes, white and purple cobras, emerge from behind him, hissing and flicking out their tongues menacingly. As she watched with horror, she saw Orochimaru flick out his own tongue to her for entertainment, and his tongue also was very much akin to a snakes.

"Unfortunately, I don't need bargaining chipsss to bring Sasuke to me." Orochimaru said, in an almost apologetic voice, seeing as his voice so often lilted and wavered as though upon a breeze. "Sasuke will come to me through want of power, and I ssshall at last gain the Sharingan for my own…But…On the other hand…You are a Hatake."

Inara struggled against Kabuto, but he held her firmly rooted to the spot, making it nearly impossible to escape.

"Y-Yeah…So?" She managed to ask, her voice tentative and unsure. Orochimaru smiled almost kindly, but Inara could see the evil and menace lurking behind the smile.

"The only other Hatake in exissstence, goes by the name Kakashi…Kakashi Hatake…The famousss copy ninja…." Orochimaru teased her with his knowledge of her only other family member, watching as he face contorted with dread, finally realizing how much danger she was in. "Ssso unfortunately for you, my dear…I have no need of you. Kabuto…pleassse…essscort her outssside…and…lead her on her journey." Orochimaru said in a sickly pleasant voice as Kabuto led her away.

"It wasss…Ssso nice…to meet you." Orochimaru's mocking voice floated back to her as it gained in pitch ever so slightly at the end, almost making it into a question.

Inara wasn't able to remember the time, where she was or almost anything at that moment in time. She felt so lost, mainly due to every freaking winding corridor that Kabuto led her down. Along the way, she tried to clear her throat and talk, but each time, Kabuto shook her roughly, preventing her from doing so.

It was only when he pressed a small lever in the side of the wall around a good fifteen minutes later, and opening it to reveal the very early hours of daylight of about five o'clock in the morning. Inara felt herself being shoved out into the open air, and she gasped as the cold morning air pierced her lungs, blinking as the first rays of sunlight hit her eyes.

"You're letting me go?" She asked, turning to look behind her at Kabuto, unsure of whether it was for real.

But her words died on her lips as she finally registered the fact that he had a kunai ready in his hand, glinting in the sunlight menacingly as he walked towards her.

"Oh…I see." She said, her throat tight with fear, making her voice come out strangled. He said nothing at first but then he looked at her without a trace of regret.

"Do me a favour." He said, now standing one step in front of her. "Don't resist." He said bluntly, swinging the kunai at her with astonishing quickness.

Inara felt her body just suddenly act upon impulse, as though she wasn't actually in charge of her body. Her knees buckled all of a sudden, and she hit the floor, hearing the kunai pass over her head in slow motion. She closed her eyes and focused, breathing slowly and rhythmically as she stood up again. It was this, or it was all over for her.

Ushi, Ne, U, Ne, Saru, Ne.

"CHIDORI!" She yelled, slamming a palm of crackling lightening into Kabuto's chest as the small space around them was filled with the sound of a thousand singing birds.

Kabuto's eyes widened in painful surprise as the Chidori missed his heart, but struck him in the left shoulder. He yelled in pain and stumbled forward and as Inara turned to try and flee, he lifted the kunai and stuck her across her back, slicing her from her left shoulder down to her right hip. Inara screamed in agony, and was sent stumbling as Kabuto collapsed to the floor, clutching his shoulder as he fell forwards onto his front.

Inara managed to stay upright, but she kept running despite her serious injury, powered by determination and fear.

The forest floor was wet and slippery due to the dew on the wet grass, and at one point she stumbled, a piece of her black and purple sleeve catching on a thick bramble bush.

Inara yelped and tugged it free, wincing at the sound of tearing fabric as she started to sprint away again, deeper into the forest.

She had to get away from that dreaded place. She needed to get somewhere dry…and sleep.

* * *

It was raining.

Again.

It rained for the past three days, and Team 7 had left bridge builder Tazuna's house yesterday morning at early hours. Inari had become much more helpful, and he was already showing signs of growth from his meeting with Naruto, and it filled Tazuna with pride and a sense of hope for Inari and the future of the Wave Village.

However, Tazuna was woken from his afternoon nap the day after Team 7 had left as there was a loud rapping at his door. He started to get up from his chair, when it sounded again, this time fainter.

"Ok, ok. I'm coming…geez." He muttered, reaching the door and opening it.

He blinked in astonishment as a small figure collapsed on the doorstep, completely drenched as they fell halfway across the threshold. He hastily stooped and picked the figure up, only to discover that it was a small girl.

"Inari! Get me a towel, and get your mother to start brewing some hot chocolate or something!" He called frantically, picking her up gently and laying her out along the couch on the towel that Inari had quickly provided, laying her on her side, with her face facing the cushioned side of the couch.

Inari gaped at the gash along her back in horror, and he recoiled, dashing off to tell his mother about making the hot chocolate. Tazuna rubbed his mouth and chin thoughtfully and then got a proper look at her.

It couldn't be.

He slowly reached into his pocket and withdrew the letter that Kakashi had left to him.

_~Tazuna,_

_If, by some twisted turn of fate, Inara manages to come back, or by happy chance that you find her, please contact the leaf immediately, and I shall come back to retrieve her._

_Apart from that, we were glad to assist you on this mission, and may you, your daughter and grandson, continue to build hope for your futures within the Wave Village._

_Kind regards,_

_~Kakashi Hatake._

'_I best start writing ahead.' _Tazuna thought to himself. "Inari! Get that hot chocolate put into a flask. I won't be needing it just yet. But can you get some sleeping pills please? The strong ones on the top shelf? There's a good lad. I'm going to the leaf for a while." Tazuna called back to Inari as there was a clatter from the kitchen.

* * *

_**I offer you all my most deepest apologies that I have not updated since February, but I kind of…well…forgot about it. ^_^**_

_**BUT.**_

_**I got a few reviews, which reminded me! =D SO ARIGATO TO ALL OF YOU WHO REVIEWED! LOVE YOU GUYS! ^-^**_

_**THIS IS THE IMPORTANCE OF REVIEWING PEOPLE! O.O So please review! I hope this was satisfactory, but there are a few…major events coming up soon…so stay tuned. ;)**_

_**Kaitaru Seras Viktoria Hatake. (Kai)**_

_**XxxXxxX**_


	10. Reunion

**Chapter 10**  
**Reunion.**

Tazuna had walked for three days, and the child had slept for two. Everything was perfectly fine, and things were going swell.

Ok.

I guess that the fact that Inara was humming and happily skipping alongside Tazuna as he walked up to the gates of the Leaf Village was a slight indication that something _had_ gone kind of wrong.

***Flashback.***

Inara murmured beside Tazuna as she woke up late in the afternoon on the second day of travelling. It was almost five o'clock, and it seemed that her body had chosen now for her to wake up. Tazuna tensed himself in readiness as he watched her sit up from where he had put her down so that he could take a break.

"I see you've woken up Inara." Tazuna said hesitantly. Inara whirled and looked at him.

She frowned for a second, and he tensed even more. "Who are you again?" She asked suddenly, smiling politely.

Tazuna's jaw nearly dropped to the ground. "I…I'm Tazuna. The bridge builder. You ended up joining Team 7, the team of Shinobi who I had asked to assist me on my journey home, and you disobeyed your father, the captain of the team, and joined us on our little journey." Tazuna explained, waiting nervously for her reaction as she thought for a minute or two.

There was a tense silence.

"Well…I can remember you now…and that I am a Genin…but I can't remember my father, or the team that you speak of. Were they nice? I bet they were. I can remember being quite weak in my abilities, but I'm sure I'm strong now. I must be. You were probably guiding me." Inara said, prattling on slightly as she came to a conclusion in her own mind, seeming that she was satisfied with her answer.

Tazuna stared at her in disbelief. '_I don't believe it. She's lost her memory. She can't remember any of the events that happened since she left the village…She probably won't even remember any of her ninja…stuff. How am I going to explain this to Kakashi?_' Tazuna thought worriedly.

"Have you got anything to eat? I feel starving…" Inara said, grimacing and putting a hand on her stomach as it growled in total agreement with her. Tazuna blinked and nodded mutely, reaching into his supplies pack and handing her a plain jam sandwich and a flask of hot chocolate.

"Awww thanks old man! You're the best!" She said happily, taking them and munching on the sandwich gratefully and slurping down some of the hot chocolate, being careful not to spill any and making sure to leave some of the drink for later. The sandwich did not share the same fate, and it was wolfed down quickly, staying some of her hunger pangs that had started almost as soon as she had woken up.

"Hmm." Tazuna hmm'd quietly in acknowledgement.

When she had finished, he stood up, packing the flask away and helping her up as she brushed her clothes down, clearing any crumbs and dust from them.

"So! Where are we going now then?" Inara asked cheerfully, jumping up and down on the spot a little, trying not to scare him too much, even though she was smaller than him and that would not happen anyway.

"We're taking you back to your Otou-san…your father. Ok?" Tazuna said slowly, wondering if that would get a reaction at all. If he was expecting a reaction, he didn't get one. Inara just nodded wisely and followed as he started walking. Tazuna focused on the road ahead as he tried to figure how many hours it would now take to reach the Village.

Suddenly he was being thrown forwards, and Inara stood in his place as he was sprawled on the floor. "WATCH OUT!" She yelled, dodging the kunai that were hailed at her, grabbing one that had thudded into the ground a meter or so away and holding it in front of her protectively as she stood over Tazuna.

A shadow materialised out of the surrounding trees and Inara noticed that he was wearing a foreign headband. She narrowed her eyes and gripped the kunai tighter.

"Tracking you wasn't so hard. And I do believe I owe you one you brat." A kind voice said, but Tazuna could hear the malice beneath the kind tone.

Inara was thoroughly confused however. She frowned and relaxed her stance slightly. "Who are you?" She asked distrustfully, her eyes almost unfocused as the shadow stepped out of the trees and faced her in the direct sunlight.

"I feel almost insulted. It's only been four days and you seem to have forgotten me already. But let me refresh your memory for you and your old man down there." The voice said, a light flashing where his eyes were, signifying his glasses which were perched on his nose as he pushed them up to cover his eyes more. "Kabuto Yakushi." He said, smiling sarcastically at her and gesturing to the hole on the left shoulder of his clothes which had been badly stitched back together.

Inara stared in confusion still for a second, but as soon as she saw the rip of fabric in his clothes, something clicked.

Her eyes widened and she screamed as images of dark corridors, murky air and the hissing of snakes filled her mind. Kabuto's kindness, turned betrayal and near murder of her life. He had found her when she had been struggling to get away…away from what? That was still a mystery, but stabbing him with the Chidori had led her to being injured and somehow surviving long enough to make it to Tazuna's.

It made sense, in a twisted way. But she felt a sense of pride that she had been able to do a Chidori, since that was the first technique she had mastered.

Pushing the images away from the fore-front of her mind, she tried to focus again, clamping down on the pride that coursed through her as she used her right hand to feel along a line of dull ache in her back…and she gasped in agony as she felt a spasm of pain run through her back as her hand passed over a bandaged area of her back which ran from her left shoulder to her right hip.

"Y-Y-You…BASTARD." She shouted angrily, brandishing the kunai in front of her aggressively, ignoring Tazuna's disapproving click of his tongue at her language. "You completely led me on a goose chase, and above all, you tried to kill me!" She continued angrily.

Kabuto snorted and cocked his head to the left, glaring at her hatefully. "Yeah, and because of your little lightning stunt, it nearly cost me my life. You should have just made my life easier by just doing as I'd told you and staying still and not struggling." He retorted spitefully, drawing his own kunai and clasping it firmly in his hand as he started to run at her. "But I'll make up for it now!"

"INARA. RUN!" Tazuna yelled, trying to scramble up in a hope to get up and protect her in time.

Inara however, planted her feet firmly against the ground and clenched her teeth in determination, lips pressed together as tightly as she gripped the kunai. Watching Kabuto as he sped towards her, and driving the kunai at her.

Just in time, she raised the kunai to meet his, and there was a small fountain of sparks as they met. They glared at each other, and with a burst of rage that Inara couldn't have explained, her chakra heightened of its own accord and blue chakra leaked out of her palm and ran the length of the kunai, sharpening the kunai into an even more deadly blade as it cut Kabuto's kunai clean in half and sent her now chakra enhanced blade into his uninjured shoulder.

Kabuto yelled out in pain and dropped the useless broken half of his kunai to join its sorrowful other half. He hissed as Inara drew back determinedly, and blue chakra surrounded her palm, crackling into life as lightening with the sound of a high pitched chirping.

Kabuto jumped back at least five paces as quickly as he could, clutching his shoulder in pain as he turned away from her. "You know what, I'm going to let things unfold for now. At this rate you'll die anyway. Not to mention we've come for something else anyway. I can get you at a later date." Kabuto said carelessly, his voice filled with hate as he sped off into the trees quicker than a bird in free flight.

Inara didn't relax until she thought that they were safe again, and she turned to Tazuna with the start of a smile. It died slightly as she saw the look of amazement on his face.

"…What's wrong?" She asked in concern, searching his face worriedly for any signs of…well…anything other than shock.

Tazuna shook himself and pulled his hat down low over his eyes. "It's nothing kid. It's just that…your strength is quite…astonishing." He muttered, starting to walk. "Now come, let's go. It should be perhaps two hours until we reach the gates of your home. Surely you remember your home?" He asked curiously, looking at her from underneath his hat.

"Yeah, I can remember where I live…can't remember my father…or the team you said I came with…but perhaps…no. I'll just go home." Inara said contentedly.

Tazuna gazed at her for a few seconds before nodding once. "If that's what you want." He said with a slight shrug.

***End Flashback.***

Now they were outside the gates, and he was contemplating what to do. Gritting his teeth he forced himself to stop walking and turn to Inara quickly. "Inara. I want you to stay close to me, and transform to look like my grandson, Inari. Can you remember what he looks like?" He said, glancing up at the sign in guards up ahead.

Inara thought for a second, and then frowned and shook her head. "No, sorry…I can't…" She said apologetically. "Describe him to me, perhaps I'll be able to from his description." She suggested quickly as she watched his face fall with disappointment.

Tazuna concealed a smile at her will to keep trying to find a solution, to keep trying. "Well…" He said, quickly describing Inari to her, watching her carefully as she nodded thoughtfully and concentrated, focusing on the image she had of the description he had given her.

"Transform!" Inara said quietly, scrunching her face up with force of her concentration. There was a 'poof' and as the white billowing wisps of smoke cleared, Tazuna beamed as he looked upon a perfect replica of his beloved grandson. "How's this?" She asked worriedly.

"That's great! But change your voice slightly, make it deeper, but not too deep." Tazuna instructed.

"Like this?" She asked, her voice now considerably lower from her normal tomboy-ish tone, and sounded much more like his daughter's son. He nodded and gave her a thumbs up.

"Yes, that's great. But keep that transformation up until I say you can drop it. Ok?" He said, a slight worry starting to creep in on the edge of his thoughts, but he pushed them away, trying to be as fearless as the brave young girl before him.

"Sure. Lead the way…uhh…gran'pa." She said happily, following him as he went to sign in.

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, looked up at the door through his glasses from where he was sat at the Hokage desk, which seemed to have a lot of paperwork on it, as there was a polite knock at the door.

"Come in." He called, watching as a Chūnin led in a man of about Sarutobi's own age, and a small boy who was most probably the man's grandson. "Thank you." He said, nodding to the Chūnin who bowed and quickly departed from the room, closing the door behind the two.

"Hey old man! I've told you smoking was bad for you, get the pipe out of your mouth!" The boy said, putting his hands on his hips. Hiruzen nearly dropped the lit pipe from his mouth anyway.

"Inari! What have I told you! Respect your elders." The old man reprimanded the boy, who shuffled his feet and crossed his arms over his chest with a huff. "Sorry about my grandson. He just doesn't think, that's all. My name is-"

"Your name is Tazuna, from the land of the Waves." The Third Hokage filled in for him. Then he pointed at Inari. "But that is not your grandson." He said heavily, removing his glasses and placing them on one of the stack of papers that was piled on top of his desk.

Tazuna held his breath for a second in surprise, and then he exhaled quietly and removed his hat, holding it in his right hand. "Yeah…about that-" He sighed, running a hand through his snow-white hair.

There was another knock at the door suddenly, and without waiting to be told to come in, the door opened.

Tazuna froze as he saw who walked in.

Kakashi Hatake had walked in behind Sakura and Sasuke, Naruto had run in front of them all and had thrown the door open wide and raced in. Kakashi sighed and restrained Naruto as he tried to run at the Hokage.

"I'm sorry, Hokage sir, but Naruto insists on going on another mission and was getting rather impatient. I'll just-" Kakashi started apologetically, but then he registered the scene before him, and he stopped mid-sentence. "Tazuna?" He asked in surprise.

"Inari!" Naruto cried joyously. Inari looked at Naruto in surprise and Tazuna swallowed nervously. Kakashi looked at Tazuna and let go of Naruto, who immediately ran up to Inari and embraced him.

"Why have you returned? Is there more trouble from Gato?" Kakashi asked worriedly. "Or has-"

"Kakashi, Tazuna has-" Sarutobi tried to interrupt, but he too was cut off by Naruto's explosive yell.

"HEY! WHAT THE HELL? WHO ARE-UURRK!"

Inari had disappeared in a cloud, and there were sounds of grappling as Naruto fought vainly to get the other person off as he was being strangled. Kakashi rolled his eyes and managed to pick both of them up easily by the scruff of the neck and shake them soundly as they struggled to get at one another. He glared at Naruto first.

"Naruto. This is why you don't go running off. Now go with Sakura and Sasuke back to training ground three and wait for me. I'll see if I can sort out a mission for us, and if you behave then I'll see if we can make it a better than a D grade mission. Ok? Go, the three of you. Get gone. Now." Kakashi ordered, dropping Naruto and watching as Sasuke and Sakura helped to drag the protesting orange fanatic blonde of the Hokage's office and slam the door after them.

Then he turned to look at Naruto's attacker. "And as for…as for…for…f…" Kakashi trailed off in shock at who was face to face with.

Inara was back in her own form, her waist length black and silver streaked hair running down her back, but greasy from where she'd been fighting and travelling. She stared at him and he at her as he placed her on the floor.

She was looking at him in confusion, and suddenly she screamed and clutched her head in agony as more images flooded her mind. Her scream made Hiruzen and Kakashi jump, but Tazuna had been expecting it, and he grimaced as he knew that she would now know the whole picture.

Where she had joined them, been in the attack with the Kiri brothers, the attack of Zabuza and Haku…where Sasuke had forced her to kill Haku…and then the argument between her and Kakashi where it had ended up with her running away and jumping from the cliff…..which then linked up to her meeting with Kabuto.

It all made sense now, but Inara was panting with the suddenness of her memory returning, and there was a stunned silence which stayed for a few minutes until Inara's breathing had returned to a normal state of where she breathed quickly due to a feeling of nerves which was coursing through her.

Slowly, she raised her eyes to look at Kakashi, who was staring back…his gaze calculating. Hiruzen stood up, and sharing a glance with Tazuna, they both left the room and shut the door quietly behind them, leaving father and daughter alone together.

* * *

The silence was broken by Kakashi.

"Why…Inara?" He asked quietly in a monotone, his one eye fixed on her. "You wouldn't listen to me…" He said. Inara pressed her lips together, and she said nothing. "Yes, I was angry…I understand that…But running off on your own only made me angrier at the time…and-"

"Are…Are you angry now?" Inara asked nervously, licking her lips as she looked away, almost scared of the answer.

Kakashi took a deep breath to control his breathing and slowly exhaled. "If I'm honest…Inara…I'm absolutely furious." He answered, staring at her so as to make her feel intimidated. It worked, as Inara immediately shrank back into herself and cowered away from him as he suddenly rose up to his full height and reached out towards her.

She screwed her eyes shut tightly and tensed, but his arms enveloped her and brought her upwards, up off the floor as he lifted her into his arms and hugged her tightly. She gripped his shoulders and buried her head in his strong, muscled shoulder.

"But I love you. And I never, ever, want to have to lose you. So just…promise me you'll never do it again." He said quietly in her ear, his voice full of love for his daughter as he enfolded her in his fatherly embrace.

"I'm sorry daddy…and I s-swear I'll never do it again…c-c-cause I love you too…" She whispered, tears threatening to fall from her eyes as she swallowed a tight knot in her throat. But she couldn't hold it back for long, and soon she was quietly sobbing into his chest as he rubbed her back and soothed her in her distressed state, crooning soft shh's to her as he rocked her to and fro in his arms.

They stayed like this for nigh on five minutes, before Inara wiped her eyes dry and sniffed sorrowfully as Kakashi set her on the floor and knelt down on one knee on the floor next her so that he was the same height.

"We're going home now, but you're going to have a shower and then it's straight to bed. Ok? Tomorrow, you can tell me everything. Alright? Come on." He said gently, rising again and putting one arm around her shoulders comfortingly as he started to walk towards the door with her.

As they walked outside, they found Tazuna talking to Sakura, and Naruto to Sarutobi. Sasuke, however, upon seeing them, glared at Inara as they drew up and curled his lip slightly in distaste.

"Have fun did you, running away like that? Leaving the only family you had? I'm glad you did. You'd have just got in the way, brat." Sasuke sneered spitefully at her.

Inara felt her rage flare suddenly and her hand was filled with lightening as she yelled in anger and stabbed in Sasuke's direction with the Chidori that had filled her palm. Eyes widened in surprise and shock, but Kakashi grabbed her arm and stopped her from pushing the Chidori any closer to Sasuke. He smacked Inara firmly on the backside as a reprimand, immediately distracting her concentration of chakra at the sudden pain as she yelped. At the same time his other hand reached up and cuffed Sasuke hard around the back of the head.

"Stop it. Both of you." Kakashi said sternly, frowning at them as they glowered at each other in hate.

"Sarutobi-Sama, if you'll excuse me, but if you would be so kind as to give my team perhaps a C rank mission for tomorrow before you dismiss them?" Kakashi asked, turning to Hiruzen with a sigh. The Third Hokage nodded and beckoned to Team 7 to follow him into the office, who followed him dutifully, but with Sasuke glaring at Inara the whole way until the door closed on them.

Tazuna rolled his eyes. "Well…Now that everything has been sorted, It's time for the off. I'll be heading to a hotel room. I'm up early tomorrow for the journey back. I'll see you sometime soon I hope, come and visit us." Tazuna said, smiling at them both.

"Thank you Tazuna, I also hope that we can see you soon. Have a safe journey tomorrow." Kakashi replied formally, watching as Tazuna headed off in another direction.

Kakashi turned to Inara and fixed his one good eye on her. "I will not tolerate you just going out on a rage Inara." He scolded her, watching as she squirmed uncomfortably under his stern gaze. "Even if someone such as Sasuke provokes you. Do you understand?"

"But Sasuke was-"

"I said, do you understand?" He forced the question again, glaring at her with his single onyx eye that was visible above the main masked part of his face.

Inara sighed in defeat. "Yeah." She said in resignation, flicking her hair forwards unintentionally as she nodded simultaneously. Kakashi nodded once in satisfaction and started to walk into the streets of Konoha, Inara right behind him. She glowered at the ground as she started to mutter. "But I still think that Sasuke is a right cock sucking, dick munching, bast-YOWCH!"

She broke off her insults that were directed at the non-present Uchiha as Kakashi whipped around and grabbed her harshly by the ear and shook her slightly. "You can stop that bad language immediately young lady. If I happen to hear another word such as that escape your lips, Inara, I'll see to it that you won't be able to sit down for a month!" He threatened wrathfully, narrowing his eye at her in warning. Inara gulped as she frantically tried to prise his hand from her ear, he twisted it slightly before letting her go and waiting until she started to walk alongside him.

When they reached home, the sun was starting to set behind the Hokage mountain, throwing shadows over the Leaf Village as the last rays of sunshine started to die out.

Kakashi opened the door and let them both inside, and closed the door behind him. Inara smiled slightly at the familiar feel of home…the comfortable scent that she associated with home that hung in the air. Mixed with the scent of the dogs, of course, for whenever Kakashi had summoned them inside the house.

"Off to bed now. C'mon." Kakashi said as he turned to Inara, putting his keys back in his pocket.

Inara pulled a face and started to protest. "But daaaaaaaaaad-"

"No 'buts'. Bed. Now." He said cutting her off. He put a hand on her back so as to push her in the direction of her room, but as soon as his hand made contact with her back, she veered sharply into the wall with a scream of agony, pressing herself against the wall as her limbs went into spasms of pain.

Alarmed, Kakashi picked her up and rushed up the stairs and into her room, sitting her on her bed as he knelt next to her so that he could see her pain-pinched face. "Inara…Inara! What's wrong? What happened?" He asked frantically. Inara gasped a couple of times, her eyes squeezed shut, before managing to gasp out two words. "*Gasp*-My-*Gasp*-Back!"

Immediately Kakashi was picking her up and laying her out on her bed, lifting up her top to see her back. He was shocked to the spot when her top revealed the scar on her back that ran from her left shoulder to her hip.

"Inara! How on earth-" He gaped in disbelief.

"Kabuto…" Inara all but managed in a whisper as he ever-so-lightly traced the scar with the tip of his index finger, making her shiver and then immediately wishing she hadn't. "Kabuto Yakushi. I met him after I jumped over that cliff…then…took me to Orochimaru…" Kakashi's eyes widened at this in astonishment, his eyes still rooted to the scar on her back. "But he didn't need me…said he'd get Sasuke anyway…and told Kabuto to take me away…..Got outside…tried to kill me. But, my chakra…I managed a Chidori…But I can't control when I do it. It's when I'm scared or angry."

"Well, I can help you work on that. But I can't help this scar on your back here. I'm not good at medical Ninjutsu…Perhaps…Hmmm…We'll see. We will get it sorted out later. Ok? But for now, lets get you in your Pyjamas. Yeah?" He said, lifting Inara upright and helping to carefully peel off her clothes and to get her into some nice, warm, and comfortable Pj's before helping her into bed and pulling the soft indigo covers up over her and tucking her in.

She shifted around a little gingerly, trying not to provoke anymore pain on her back. Kakashi sat down next to her small, lithe body, which was still outlined by how he'd tucked the covers into her sides cosily.

He sighed as he looked at her. Inara bit her lip and considered getting up again. "I'm not tired." She stated with a yawn. Kakashi rolled his eyes ceiling-ward.

"Liar." He teased, tweaking her nose gently, making her giggle as her eyelids drooped. "Get some sleep, you little trouble maker."

"I don't make trouble…" Inara protested drowsily. "It just waits for me as I happen to walk into it."

He chuckled softly, making Inara smile as she closed her eyes. "Love you Otou-san." She whispered, finally falling asleep. He gazed at her sleeping form for a second or two, watching her chest rise and fall rhythmically.

"Love you too 'Ara." He whispered, leaning forward and kissing her gently on the forehead, before standing up and slowly walking to the door, turning off the light and closing her bedroom door quietly.

He rubbed his neck tiredly and headed off to his own room, feeling the black waves of tiredness starting to wash over him too, numbing his mind as though it was slowly being filled with cotton wool, making him strain to stay awake.

'_I think Icha Icha can go amiss for tonight. Otherwise I'll never make another morning so as to read it ever again._' He thought hazily, collapsing onto his own bed and letting the tiredness drag him down into its murky depths.

* * *

_**Chapter 10 guys! =D**_

_**Hope this was ok…IT SHOULD BE. Its approximately 4500 words I tell you!**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW! O.O **_

_**DO IT. OR ELSE OROCHIMARU WILL BE AFTER YOU WITH HIS 'Special' SNAKE! *Insert creepy evil laugh here***_

_**This is not the end of the fic…I am carrying on with the timeline…I just change things…because of Inara… ;)**_

_**Wait for my update! =D (Which comes quicker if you review…Just a small hint there…) **_

_**Kaitaru**_

_**XxxXxxX **_


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